Service dogs for children seem to be the newest fad or something. Numerous programs now exist that train and place service dogs with kids with autism, often kids as young as two. Many programs also now exist that place service dogs, or in some cases untrained puppies, with kids with type 1 diabetes, also often with kids as young as two (to read more about one such program, refer back to this post. I'm not naming the program on my blog but if you want to know the name, email me at poet_kelly at yahoo dot com. The program is still selling parents untrained puppies, although they've been sued by at least one family that didn't get what they paid for).
Parents may seek service dogs for their children with autism for a variety of reasons, but one thing they often hope a service dog can do is keep their children from wandering off or running off. Those are two different things. A child with autism may quietly wander away and become lost before anyone even notices he's gone. A child with autism may also become startled, frightened, or overwhelmed and bolt, and parents or caregivers may notice he's gone but find it difficult to catch him. Many years ago, I worked with children with disabilities that were being mainstreamed into typical classes in public schools. I remember chasing one child that bolted from her classroom and then ran out of the school building. I remember praying she didn't run into traffic, as the school was on a very busy road. I can certainly understand why parents want a way to prevent their kids from doing this.
Tethering kids to dogs is the solution proposed by some programs that place service dogs with autistic children. The child and the dog both wear some sort of harness and a leash of some sort connects the two. The dog, a larger-sized dog like a golden retriever or a lab, is trained to dig in his heels and stay put when the child tries to bolt.
While it might initially look like a good way to solving the program, it's really an incredibly dangerous practice. You see, no matter how well-trained a service dog is, he's still a dog. Dogs have brains similar to those of four-year-old children. You wouldn't put a four-year-old without autism in charge of your four year old with autism, would you? And why not? Because sometimes four-year-old children get distracted. Sometimes they forget things. Sometimes they make mistakes. And so do dogs.
There was a study, admittedly done on a very small scale, of service dogs placed with autistic children. I plan to write more about the study later, because many of its findings really disturbed me. The children in the study were tethered to the dogs and one of the dogs did take off running after something one day while tethered to a small child. The child tried to run to keep up with the dog, but of course he couldn't keep up, so he fell and was then dragged for several feet. Luckily the child was not seriously injured, but he could have been. What if the dog had run into the street, dragging the child behind him? What if the dog had run into a shallow creek? Kids can drown in very shallow water.
Isaac has gotten much better, but he once pulled me off my feet running after a neighborhood cat. And I weigh a good hundred pounds more than a typical four-year-old with autism. He hasn't done that in quite a while but I still would not tether an autistic child to him. Hell, I wouldn't tether myself to him! Part of why he doesn't take off after cats anymore when we're on walks is because I watch him closely. When he catches sight of a cat or squirrel or something else he would like to chase, his ears prick up and his tail sticks out straight. I know from his body language he's thinking about giving chase. Then I remind him to pay attention to me. An autistic child would find it difficult or impossible to pick up on those signs from a dog, though, and redirect him.
Since a four-year-old, autistic or not, should not be going anywhere unsupervised, if the child really needs to be tethered to someone to prevent bolting, it seems that the child could be tethered instead of a parent or caregiver. You know, an adult caregiver that would be much less likely than a dog to get distracted and chase a squirrel into traffic.
Thank you. I think promoting service dogs for young children is unethical and should be illegal.
ReplyDeleteParents are now suing to have their childs autistic service dog admitted to school. Some.of the children are preschoolers. I think this is dangerous to everyone and puts an onerus burden on financially strapped school districts that can't afford the extra manpower required to ensure the safety of the child , his classmates and school staff
a dog / child team is (or should be) always a threesome. a dog should always be leashed with the handler on one side, dog in the middle, and the child tethered on the other side. the dog is trained to drop to its belly when a child bolts away, creating a weight that stops the escape. again, the adult is always holding the leash. the reason a dog is involved, and the tether is not just between the adult and child, is that it is very difficult to hold onto a child that is pulling you over, yanking on your arm/hand/waist over and over. this frees up the adult to be able to handle the situation without being pulled over.
ReplyDeleteIf the child wears a harness in order to be tethered to a dog, and the parent is holding the dog's leash, who not just take the dog out of the equation entirely and have the parent hold the tether to the child's harness? The parent can hold the child's hand -- or not -- but the child is still under control.
DeleteA dog used for tethering generally about 80 pounds. A parent would likely weigh more than that so I don't see them being "pulled over" by their child. While I understand that parents are looking for help in caring for their children, like Kelly, I don't believe that dogs are the answer to protecting children from bolting away from their parents.
I'm contemplating this for my 5yr old ASD son. I have no intention of sending the dog to school with him (although I could, if he is a licensed Service Dog, I live in Australia with a state that has strict regulations).
DeleteI am considering tethering - as *part* of the mitigation of my son's disappearing act. I would always be holding a lead as well, and the intention is for the dog to distract or interupt my son's flight, so I can then handle it. The reality is that my son can appear to be functioning perfectly normally and in the time it takes me to turn and take something from a shelf in a shop he dysregulates and bolts and then hides under racks / in hidey holes. My son is high functioning, in mainstream school, but has complicating high sensory issues and high anxiety.
I'm hoping the dog will:
- Slow down the escape so I can react
- Find my son if he does bolt, and bark to alert me to find him
- Provide my son with distraction and support through anxiety attacks and reduce overall anxiety/vigilance
- Provide therapeutic deep pressure to reduce my son's sensory issues.
Now... there's a LOT of other things a service animal can do, this is a starting point. The other thing is that I don't expect my child (or an ed assistant) to be in charge of the dog - I will be the handler, alongside my son, working with them both at all times. Children like this usually are monitored and managed by adults... but the adults need to be able to grocery shop, care for other children, walk safely through carparks etc - I cannot push a trolley to the car (in Australia it's 100% the norm to NOT have someone take your bags to the car) and manage my son in a carpark - he bolts and hides. A dog can help me to manage this. (Let alone the fact that I have a three year old as well to manage through argh!)
I will add... that I cannot just leash my child - he's tall - the height of a 7yr old, and strong and fast. And... he has free will and is aware of what being tethered would mean. He's also well able to undo any clip etc.
ReplyDeleteThis is why the dog - the extra set of eyes and attention is what's needed - My son will be prepared to be tethered to the dog if he believes it's the only way his dog could come with us - it would be a reward/trade off, and would understand that part of the act of walking the dog is to tether it in public places ... I can sell it to my son as a rule. If I just tether my son to me then he's aware he's being treated as a baby and will undo the clip, tantrum, lead to meltdown, a huge mess.
If my son undoes the tether to the dog the dog can still alert me, and let me know. If my son undoes it, gets away before I can deal with the situation, then the dog can help me find my son. My son is likely to be melting down (this is not tantrumming - that's different, meltdown is shutdown without control auto update time) and need the sensory management of deep pressure.