Help us in our journey to provide an Autism Service Dog to our sweet boy, Lukas!
Autism Service dogs are specially trained dogs used to help mitigate the behaviors and anxiety that children living with autism endure, like Lukas. These dogs have the ability to identify early signs of behaviors (also called "stimming"), and intervene early before the behaviors escalates to something for extreme (like hitting or biting themselves).
These special dogs are also able to provide tethering so he can't bolt into traffic suddenly, and are also able to track him if he runs off or gets out of the house --- you see way too many stories of children with autism getting out of the house and going missing or getting hurt. Lukas is a pistol and has a habit of dropping your hand and running as fast as he can towards the object that caught his eye. Having a service dog with a tethering ability would let Lukas be so much more independant while also giving us the peace of mind that he won't sprint off into traffic. His dog would also be able to track him if he wandered away.
These specially trained dogs can also provide deep pressure (think of it like a furry weighted blanket), tactile stimulation, and a comforting presence to enhance sleep, which can be difficult for children with autism. Having service dogs has also been shown to help the communication abilities of children with autism, allowing them a safe companion to talk to and strengthen their verbal and interpersonal skills. Lukas would be better equipped to handle any challenges in the world with his dog, and be able to experience things as simple as the grocery store, to maybe one day (big dream) going to Disney World. Currently, these environments are loud and overstiulating for Lukas, which can lead Lukas to self-harming behaviors (hitting himself) or stimming, or having meltdowns and being overwhelmed, which is harmful to Lukas even if he's not engaging in the physical behaviors. His dog will be able to comofrt him and redirect him before he gets too overwhelmed and allow him to have new life experiences with a best friend always by his side.
Lukas' dog will be specially trained to respond to his behaviors and triggers that are unique to Lukas and intervene before his behvaiors and stimming overwhelm him.
To say a service dog would be life changing for Lukas would be an understatement. For Lukas, having this companion would give him more confidence and independence, allowing for more social interaction, less anxiety, and more time to just be the amazing kid we all know him to be!