Improving The Lives Of Families With ASD Children
Dog Point is an association specialized in training, matching and following up assistance dogs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
WHAT DOES THE PROJECT SOLVE?
Dog Point is an association specialized in training, matching and following up assistance dogs for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Sometimes families that have children with autism experience stressful situations that can occasionally lead to fear. Families that don’t feel secure in their everyday life and routines, tend to avoid certain situations, and consequently start limiting themselves.
With help from dogs, the goal is to give these families valuable support that will allow them to feel more secure. They will start recovering a family environment and practice activities that will improve their wellbeing as well as the relationship of the whole family.
The objectives of the Association are to assure the safety of children, increase their psychosocial development and improve family leisure time and quality of life. Once the assistance dog is given, he becomes part of the family, always looking for new solutions to ease their everyday routine and the commitment continues throughout the dog’s entire life.
The Association helps families that have children with autism by selecting, training, matching and following up an assistance dog as part of the family. Each family has concrete needs, which is why the selection and training processes of the dog are vital in helping these children.
The people from the Association become very close to each family, helping them with the dog not only on the first weeks but throughout their life together, and this is what makes the difference. The dogs that are part of Dogpoint are raised and taken care of, always focusing on their wellbeing and health. During the first months and the phase in which they live with shelter families, they are followed up with veterinarians chosen by the Association.
The training sessions are coordinated by professionals who always consider the dog’s needs and habits.
The purpose of this project is to help improve specific behaviour in children with ASD, such as escape patterns, self-regulation, sleeping routines, communication stimulation, reducing frustration and even providing safety to the families.
The final goal is to help facilitate social inclusion of the children and to improve family life as they start to go out more and become more active while feeling safer.
Each family that receives a dog becomes a very close member of the Association: support network with other families in the same situation, volunteering and investing their time, as well as sharing experience and knowledge with other new families.
Olivia de Matteis, Dogpoint director: “Having the Royal Canin Foundation’s support means a lot for Dogpoint. Together we will be able to increase the number of families with access to an assistance dog, making their everyday lives easier,less stressful and less limitating.”
Royal Canin Foundation support to DogPoint has a clear objective: increasing the number of families of children with ASD with access to an assistance dog. To achieve this objective, both entities have been working on aspects like improving the families and dogs’ facilities in the association and reinforcing trainers’ capabilities through ad hoc courses.
Some of the achievements we are proud to share are creating ad hoc training facilities for the dogs, with special lighting and space, refurnishing the classroom for meetings with the families and improving the veterinarian checkup area with new equipment and a new veterinarian in team. Also, we wish to highlight the training developed by DogPoint’s members, going in depth on ASD and protocols with assistance dogs, as well as the efforts made to increase the awareness of ASD among society.
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We continue working together to socialize and train the future assistance dogs for children with ASD. These dogs help to improve the leisure moments and the lives of the families, improving the children’s safety and increasing their psychosocial development.
“Assistance dogs for children with ASD improve family’s life quality, since results show they help to improve sleeping quality, reduce escaping patterns and the level of stress in public spaces. Having the support of the Royal Canin Foundation it means a lot to us. Together we are increasing the number of families that have access to our dogs and, most of all, we are helping all these families so they can have a simpler, less stressful and less limiting everyday” Olivia de Matteis, DogPoint Director.
“What has changed the most since we have Bowie at home it’s the increase in the child's self-esteem by being able to do things according to his age. By preventing escape patterns we have gained confidence and have been able to increase outings and expand routines in everyday life.” María, mother of Javier and sharing their life with Bowie
“We are now part of a family of the association and the support is amazing. We can breathe more peace at home. Physically we are even more active because we are very excited about the project, we feel that we are part of something very beautiful. What I liked most about DogPoint has been its people, the treatment they give you as if they had known you forever. They open their house, their heart, their life” Cristina, mother of Andrea and sharing their life with Miel.
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