Dogs to provide safety and independence
Katherine Gottli
Issue date: 12/1/09 Section: News
Sarah spent five years learning how to use a mouse, but can now negotiate YouTube with the greatest of ease. She also has perfect pitch and a large vocabulary, but only speaks when she is motivated.
Gareth has forced his Mother to use only plastic plates in their home, as he enjoys the large crash of china breaking on the marble floor. Unlike his sister Sarah, his vocabulary is much smaller, but he speaks freely without being motivated, even though his sentences are broken and often difficult to understand. When prompted however, he works to perfect them.
Both Sarah, who is 11-years-old, and Gareth, who is eight-years-old are prone to bolting, and have been the cause of numerous phone calls by their Mother to the Welland police.
Sarah and Gareth are two of Colleen Sword's four children, all of whom are under 13 years of age, and are both diagnosed with moderate to severe Autism as well as developmental delay and seizure disorders.
A self-described guinea-pig, Sword is currently completing the major requirements to be the first to complete a Psychology degree at Brock concurrently with an advanced Behaviour Science diploma from St. Lawrence College. She is also in the process of applying to the Centre of Applied Disability Studies at Brock to complete a post-graduate program in Applied Disabilities Studies.
As her children got older and she continued to work to provide them with the best possible future she could, it became obvious that she could no longer care for all of her children by herself while still providing them with the independence and security they desired.
Thus, Sword sought out an Autism Service Dog trainer in North Carolina who was willing to train two Labradoodles for her two children for a lesser price than a single dog from a trainer in Canada. The price, however, is still quite hefty and Sword is asking for help.
"The cost of a Canadian Autism Service dog is $15,000 Canadian, per dog, and I [couldn't] really be assured that they would place two dogs together, which was a concern," she said. "The cost is still $15,000 US for both dogs."
Gareth has forced his Mother to use only plastic plates in their home, as he enjoys the large crash of china breaking on the marble floor. Unlike his sister Sarah, his vocabulary is much smaller, but he speaks freely without being motivated, even though his sentences are broken and often difficult to understand. When prompted however, he works to perfect them.
Both Sarah, who is 11-years-old, and Gareth, who is eight-years-old are prone to bolting, and have been the cause of numerous phone calls by their Mother to the Welland police.
Sarah and Gareth are two of Colleen Sword's four children, all of whom are under 13 years of age, and are both diagnosed with moderate to severe Autism as well as developmental delay and seizure disorders.
A self-described guinea-pig, Sword is currently completing the major requirements to be the first to complete a Psychology degree at Brock concurrently with an advanced Behaviour Science diploma from St. Lawrence College. She is also in the process of applying to the Centre of Applied Disability Studies at Brock to complete a post-graduate program in Applied Disabilities Studies.
As her children got older and she continued to work to provide them with the best possible future she could, it became obvious that she could no longer care for all of her children by herself while still providing them with the independence and security they desired.
Thus, Sword sought out an Autism Service Dog trainer in North Carolina who was willing to train two Labradoodles for her two children for a lesser price than a single dog from a trainer in Canada. The price, however, is still quite hefty and Sword is asking for help.
"The cost of a Canadian Autism Service dog is $15,000 Canadian, per dog, and I [couldn't] really be assured that they would place two dogs together, which was a concern," she said. "The cost is still $15,000 US for both dogs."
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Kinds Of Dogs
posted 1/27/10 @ 5:22 PM EST
Yes Dogs are great. Another example of a dogs best friend!
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