Why don't they walk those dogs themselves?

 

"Why don't they walk those dogs themselves?"

It's a great question. You'd think that a teenager would be able to walk their dog by themselves. However when said teenager enters into emotional or sensory overload and need their Assistance Dog to redirect behaviour and assist in emotional regulation, said teenager, at that moment in time, cannot keep themselves safe yet alone an Assistance Dog.

There is absolutely nothing in either the Queensland Guide Hearing Assistance Dog Act or the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act, that states the minimum age of an Assistance Dog handler. 

But it's morally unethical to expect a teenager (or a child,) to be the handler for their Assistance Dog and keep themselves both safe when in emotional or sensory overload.

Both L and O are the primary handlers for Henry and Alaska and they are both very capable as handlers. But for the moment both Mum and Dad are the additional handlers.

#teamhenry #henrythehero #teamalaska #alaskasjourney #autismassistancedogs #seizurealertassistancedog #medicalalertassistancedog #assistancedogofsaustralia #workingdogsofaustralia #assistancedogawareness #seizurealertdogawareness #autismawareness #epilepsyawareness #hypermobilityehlersdanlossyndromeawareness #adhdawareness #ehlersdanlossyndrome #generslisedanxietydisorderawareness #connectivetissuedisorders #sensoryprocessingdisorderawareness #workingdogsbooks #assistancedogsofinstagram #educatingfamilies #inspireyoungminds #inspiringyoungminds #readgrowinspire #childrensliteracy 

Pupper Memes!!

We love memes. Coffee memes. Autism memes. Even puppy memes. So here's a few!

Downtime!

 

Hi hoomans!

Tis us Henry, and Alaska!

Just like you hoomans, us working dogs need a healthy balance between work and down time. Us Assistance Dogs need days off just like you do so that we don't burn out.

No one, including Assistance Dogs, can work 24/7 without burning out!!

A day off for an Assistance Dog could look like many things - resting or having a sleepy day chilling at home. Having a pupper play date. We might go on a sniffari walk to our favourite place. Playing pupper games at home.

At home if our children needs us, we will still work. But when we're not in coat, we can just be puppers.

Our hooman family always make sure that for every day that we work, we have a day off at home.

It's almost your weekend, so take some time over the next two days to chill out and relax.

Henry and Alaska out! ❤️

H/AH .... or Before Henry/After Henry!

 

H/AH .... or Before Henry/After Henry!

We had these moments on a very regular basis when Henry first joined our family. Four years on, we still have BH/AH moments.

Before Henry, leaving the house, L's safe place, and venturing out into the world, the unknown, was difficult for L.

New experiences, new sounds and smells, the busyness of the world, the unknown were very overwhelming.

If we visited new places, we had to prepare L (and O,) in advance of where we were going, what we might see and hear, how busy or loud the place might be. We'd have to take a bag of sensory items such as fidget items, block out ear protectors, devices, multiple charging blocks for said devices. And we might have lasted only an hour or so out before L (and O,) entered sensory and/or emotional overload and we'd need to come home.

And don't get me started on medical/specialist appointments!! If you have children (or yourself) who have complex disabilities or medical conditions, you probably understand just how overwhelming these appointments can be.

After Henry .... he opened up an endless world of possibilities.

We don't need to prepare either child if we're planning to go to a new place/experience. We don't need as many sensory items.

We can do new places, new experiences, noisy places, busy places because L knows he has Henry by his side.

Where have we been? 

We surprised both children with an outing to Australia Zoo with Henry, and we left after five hours because both kids had sore legs from walking! Sealife. SeaWorld. Movie World. We did two Gold Coast theme parks in one day! Unheard of Before Henry! Full day outings into the City to visit GOMA, the Museum, Southbank and exploring the city. A school excursion to an unknown venue for L. Day long outings where we've had no real plan of what we're going to do. Movies where we haven't needed to leave half way through or go out for a sensory/movement break. Longer shopping outings, but who loves shopping anyway. People, ugh! Haircuts are easier and calmer. Blood tests! Catching up with family at new places. A full season of soccer, going to different soccer clubs each week and L spending more time on the field participating than off the field. Lock downs! Flooding! Cyclone!

We're still working on medical/specialist appointments but they are much calmer for L and he's now verbally communicating with the staff. 

The positive impact that Henry was having was the sole reason we decide to buy a puppy to train as an Assistance Dog for O.

When we say Henry, and Alaska, are life changing, they really are life changing for their children and us as a family.

#teamhenry #henrythehero #teamalaska #alaskasjourney #autismassistancedogs #seizurealertassistancedog #medicalalertassistancedog #assistancedogofsaustralia #workingdogsofaustralia #assistancedogawareness #seizurealertdogawareness #autismawareness #epilepsyawareness #hypermobilityehlersdanlossyndromeawareness #adhdawareness #ehlersdanlossyndrome #generslisedanxietydisorderawareness #connectivetissuedisorders #sensoryprocessingdisorderawareness #workingdogsbooks #assistancedogsofinstagram #educatingfamilies #inspireyoungminds #inspiringyoungminds #readgrowinspire #childrensliteracy 

How to be Respectful

Things to do (there's a lot of don'ts!) when you see an Assistance Dog - regardless of the type of Assistance the dog provides.... 

● Don't tell your child just to go and pat the dog because Assistance Dogs are always friendly. Yes, Assistance Dog's are meant to be friendly however this doesn't mean that you should just send your child over for a pat. 

● Don't pat the dog. There's a badge on Henry's jacket that says "working dog, do not pet." The badge is there for a reason. Ask before you pat the dog. If the handler says no, they've said no for a reason. Respect them. 

● Don't give the dog a treat, ie some of the food you're eating. Number one, Henry and Alaska aren't allowed human food. They eat good quality dog food, twice a day. Number two, Henry and Alaska are trained to not to beg for food at all, or even sniff at food that might be on the floor. This is a distraction for the dog when they're working and depending on what you're offering, could make the dog unwell. 

● Don't try to give the dog commands that you use with your own dog. Working dogs have set commands that they are used to. If you start giving other commands, the dog will become confused and lose focus.

● Don't go and start to take the halti, harness, leads and so on off the dog, because you think the dog looks uncomfortable or because you don't believe the dog needs it. The dog is a working dog and is wearing the halti, leads, jacket and so on for a reason. And yes this did happen to us when Henry was in work mode, the elderly woman's reason was because she thinks dogs need to be spoilt. If you want to spoil a dog, spoil your own pet. 

● If the handler says that you can pat the dog, pat the dog when they say to and where they say to pat the dog. When in work mode, the only people who can give Henry and Alaska pats at any time is L and O, and the pups doesn't have to "earn" the pat. Anyone else, the Pups need to do a trick to earn the reward and even then, the pat is on the back of the pups head.

And lastly please be respectful towards us and our hoomans.

#teamhenry #henrythehero #teamalaska #alaskasjourney #autismassistancedogs #seizurealertassistancedog #medicalalertassistancedog #assistancedogofsaustralia #workingdogsofaustralia #assistancedogawareness #seizurealertdogawareness #autismawareness #epilepsyawareness #hypermobilityehlersdanlossyndromeawareness #adhdawareness #ehlersdanlossyndrome #generslisedanxietydisorderawareness #connectivetissuedisorders #sensoryprocessingdisorderawareness #workingdogsbooks #assistancedogsofinstagram #educatingfamilies #inspireyoungminds #inspiringyoungminds #readgrowinspire #childrensliteracy 

 

You'd think that common sense would exist when it comes to Assistance Dogs, but apparently not! Most of the time, people are respectful and ask the most amazing questions. But sometimes, people's are not respectful or polite.

So here are some stoopid things people say to our family....

"Oh I didn't see the coat!" Ummms I is a black Labrador with a red coat, my sister is black and white with an orange coat. Do you need to go to Specsavers? Twice this person came over with their dog to check that I had a coat on! What the fluffs man. Twice! Mums got cranky the second time.

"You don't look blind." I is an Autism Assistance Dog, not a guide dog. Mums even had a man say to her "it's okay, I'm just going to pat the dog." Mums was sitting down with sunglasses on and the man sat down next to her to pat me! I blocked without a command! Mum even had a lady verbally abuse her that Mum should give me to a sight impaired person who actually needs a guide dog.

"Do you really have to bring the dog in?" Yes because we help our children in many ways. And our public access rights are protected.

"They don't look disabled enough to need an Assistance Dog." My Dad says "and you don't look ignorant yet here we are." He has some good come backs!

So please don't be like these people. Please be respectful. 

Having an invisible disability is difficult enough, add in the unwanted rude comments, and life is much more difficult to navigate.

We're NOT all Autistic.

 

Oh but we're all a little bit Autistic."

Hmm, if you are Autistic, I'm guessing that you've heard that phrase or statement, or something very similar to it, at some stage from well meaning friends, family, colleagues or even from random strangers. Maybe even from a medical professional.

It honestly amazes me how often we hear this. At least once or twice, sometimes more, a week, someone tells me "oh but we're all a little bit Autistic." So far this week alone, that phrase has been said to me three times - once from a parent of an Autistic young adult. And depending on who says it, and how it is said, it really grates on my nerves.

Why does it grate on my nerves? Because we're not all a little bit Autistic.

Welcome to my unofficial TED talk on why we're NOT all a little bit Autistic.

At times when we hear that phrase, it's followed by, "but all children do that," or "I fidget," or something similar.

There are many Autistic traits, many of which can be seen during typical childhood developmental stages. For instance, toe walking. Babies and toddlers will often toe walk when learning to walk. But your typically developing child will outgrow toe walking. An Autistic child may toe walk for longer. Many Autistic adults toe walk.

Echolalia is another trait - the repetition of phrases or words. Listen to babies babbling. Often babies, and toddlers, will use Echolalia like speech patterns when learning to communicate. But a typically developing child will outgrow the echolalia speech patterns.

Fidgeting. Yes we all do fidget. And anyone who says that they've never fidgeted is telling porky pies. You might fidget because you're bored during a work meeting. You might fidget if you're nervous or anxious about an upcoming appointment. Fidgeting may look like tapping a pen or pencil, tapping your foot on the ground, playing with your finger nails, drawing random objects in the margins of your work books or diary.

For the neurotypical, ie non-Autistic, person, once you're out or away from that environment, the fidgeting stops and it no longer interrupts your day.

For an Autistic individual, stimming - aka fidgeting - is a part of their daily life. Every single day. Stimming is used to express emotions. Stimming is used to ground and self regulate emotions. Stimming is used as a tool to distract from the external over whelming sensory input.

For an Autistic person, stimming is a part of life. I carry sensory items in my pocket every single day just in case I need them. Up until recently, I didn't realise just how many times a day I use these items to self regulate my own emotions and to distract myself from sensory overload. And thinking back on it, I have always carried a small sensory item in my pocket during my adult life so far. One of those big aha moments.

Sometimes stimming is a welcome distraction. Other times, stimming can be detrimental especially if it is a self harming stim. For an Autistic individual, escaping from the environment does not mean that the stimming stops. Stimming is classed as a restrictive and repetitive behaviour, ie it occurs all the time and can impact their daily life.

I could go through all of the Autistic traits and criteria that are used to diagnose Autism, but we'd be here for days. So I'll move onto other reasons why we're not all a little bit Autistic.

If everyone was a little bit Autistic, the world be a much friendly sensory and social environment for everyone. Our world is set up for neurotypical individuals. Schools, shopping centres, attractions, hospitals, pretty much any place you visit, are not created with Autistic individuals in mind. Many of those places are a huge sensory nightmare.

"Oh but shopping centres can be very busy." Yes they can, especially around peak times throughout the year. But a simple shopping outing to buy groceries during an off peak period, can be socially and sensory overwhelming. For both my children, it's often the choices that are available. For example, buying a snack. They know they want a snack but there's so many choices. They may initially have a snack type in mind but then as soon as they see the other choices, their brains go into overload. It's then not a simple choice, and we'll often walk away with no snacks and with children who are feel overwhelmed and bombarded.

If we were all a little bit Autistic, the world would be much more inclusive of neurodiverse individuals. And let's be completely honest, the world really isn't truly accepting of differences and therefore not truly inclusive. Often in workplaces, Autistic individuals have to request and justify why they need accommodations. If workplaces were inclusive, Autistic individuals would not need to justify why they need certain accommodations simply to do their role.

If all children were a little bit Autistic, education settings would be created to suit all learning types. This definitely doesn't occur. As it is, all children (regardless of neurotype) learn in a different way, yet learning materials and assessments are standard for all. Individual Education Plans (they may have a different term depending on where you live) are created every school year to assist Autistic students to access a quality education that suits their learning style. And unfortunately these IEPs aren't always suited to the students changing needs.

None of things exist for Autistic individuals.

Autism is a neurotype. You either are or you aren't Autistic. It's not half and half. An Autistic individual doesn't choose when and where they're going to be Autistic.

It isn't a compliment to tell an Autistic individual that everyone is a little bit Autistic. Saying this implies that you are discounting everything that the Autistic individual has gone through to gain the diagnosis. You're discounting their struggles that they may hide every day. You're discounting the affects of Autistic masking. You're discounting the efforts that the Autistic individual maintains to navigate their world.

So please, please stop telling Autistic individuals that "we're all a little bit Autistic." Because one day they may respond with, "and we're all a little bit ignorant, let me re-educate you!"

And if you think you are a little bit Autistic, go and get an Autism Assessment done. Then you may just realise that no, we're not all a little bit Autistic. Because gaining an Autism diagnosis is another barrier for many people.