Autism Assistance Dogs The presence of an assistance dog has been shown to have a calming effect on autistic people Exploring the impact that our furry heroes can have on the lives of autistic people
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here is a reason behind the old adage that a dog is “man’s best friend”, the common colloquialism used when talking about our canine buddies. It should really be updated to “human’s best friend” because dogs do not discriminate between genders. They also don’t discriminate against sexuality, age, ability, race, religion or on any other basis. Dogs are pure, innocent, intelligent and beautiful animals that make wonderful pets and companions for people, but they can also do so much more. Dogs have a strong bond with humans, something that has been cultivated over thousands of years; they can be loyal, protective, caring companions and they are naturally intelligent which lends itself well to learning new skills. Discussions of using dogs to assist blind or disabled people can be dated back to the 1700s, with the first official guide dog being issued to a blind war veteran in 1916 in the UK. Since then, guide dogs and assistance dogs have been trained to assist people with everything from loading the washing machine, to helping dress, to recognising when someone is about to have a seizure. Their abilities are nothing short of amazing.
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