I applied to one of the charities for an autism assistant dog when they opened there applications. I have been successful to go onto the second round. They will make sure we are suitable before even giving us the dog and the process is extensive. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get through but I wanted to give this a try.
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That is exciting. Good luck! I hope you guys are a good fit! How long is the process? A few years back one of my students had just gotten one, after 4 years on a waitlist.
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That’s so awesome! I hope you find the freedom that a service dog can give you! I have a cardiac alert service dog who also helps with my sza. My friend has an autism service dog and her dog helps her so much
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It can take up to 2 years , possibly more. I’m happy to wait. But there’s no guarantee even after 2 years they can say no.
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I just opened up the form and I feel discouraged to carry on the application !
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My dog is not a service dog but couldn’t be without him
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I am thinking of forgetting about the whole service dog application
… There was a raffle type thing and only 50 people out of around 500 got through to next round…
So only 50 people out of those 500 applicants have a chance to go through the application process and I’m one of them.
How is an autism service dog supposed to help?
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I asked AI:
Autism service dogs can help individuals with autism in several ways:
- Providing emotional support and comfort
- Reducing anxiety and stress in social situations
- Interrupting repetitive behaviors
- Improving social interactions
- Enhancing safety by preventing wandering or bolting
- Offering deep pressure therapy for calming effects
- Assisting with daily tasks and routines
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In my particular case I feel the dog will help to reduce my anxiety going out and being in public spaces… I also get extremely dysregulated at times and the dog can help with this too.
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Unfortunately I’m not allowed to have pets. It’s part of the tenancy agreement.
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Depending where you live, service dogs aren’t considered pets and most landlords have to allow them.
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Yes as they are service dogs I have to take the dog everywhere with me , and even where I can’t my partner will have to take over you can’t leave the dog alone for more than 4 hours which he works from home so it works … We won’t be renting.
The application process is really time consuming and I really have to focus for 40 odd pages 
I’m in a block of housing association flats for the over 55s . It’s a small flat, consisting of living room-kitchen- diner, bedroom, and shower room (sit down shower) with toilet.
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You would need garden space , it’s a requirement in the application process.
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Why are you jumping towards obtaining a service dog when you’ve never owned a dog before in your life?
This makes no sense to me.
Once you’re established, I would look into getting a dog suitable for novice dog owners, maybe one of the toy dogs.
You are really jumping the gun here
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I have to agree with this. Service dogs are a lot of work and I don’t think I would have been able to get my first dog and it be a service dog. They’re also a lot of hassle, like for housing and public access, and if you’ve never handled dogs before I’m not sure it’s a great idea.
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What is the difference between an autism service dog and a dog u train and bring up urself?
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Service dogs have 3 eyes.
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