Special Needs Dogs


Dogs and kids just seem to go together. Whether it’s running around the yard and roughhousing or just sitting quietly watching TV together on the sofa, dogs seem to gravitate toward kids. For some special needs kids, however, dogs are more than just a friend and play buddy; they are actually a daily caregiver.

Always there to help
 The idea of service dogs for disabled children is a little-known yet burgeoning niche in the world of special needs. Everyone knows about service dogs for the blind. I have to admit that until recently, I had never even considered service dogs for other disabilities, let alone children. Then a friend of mine whose son is autistic mentioned that she was thinking about getting an autism service dog for her son. I was puzzled. Her son suffers from sensory processing disorder so I didn’t understand what a dog would be able to do for him. Kids with autism usually don’t have physical handicaps. But as I talked to her and started reading up on the topic, I found that well-trained dogs can be a huge help to autistic kids, as well as kids with other disabilities.

http://medicalmalpracticeblog.nashandassociates.com/2011/05/09/dogs-a-huge-help-for-special-needs-kids/