Did you know that September is National Service Dog Month? Most of us are familiar with seeing eye and seizure-alert dogs, but few realize how many different conditions dogs can assist us with.
The following are just a few tasks that professionals can train service dogs to perform in support of people with developmental disabilities. The hope is to deepen your appreciation for all the wonderful things dogs can do!
Deep Pressure Therapy
Deep pressure therapy (DPT) is a sensory intervention that has been shown to reduce cortisol, blood pressure, and stress levels while increasing serotonin and dopamine. Examples of DPT include compression socks and weighted blankets. Service dogs can provide DPT, too, by lying on a person’s chest, laying in a person’s lap, or sitting on someone’s feet.
DPT is widely used among occupational therapists who work with people with autism and intellectual disabilities. Having a dog apply it on-the-go can be incredibly beneficial to people who already enjoy this type of therapy in an office setting.
Alerting a Person
People with IDD may tune out their surroundings when they get overwhelmed. A service dog can help people recognize when they’ve missed their name being called, or even an alarm that’s going off. This task may be merely helpful in some cases, and life-saving in others.
A service dog might alert a person in a number of ways. One way is by gently nudging their owner. This light touch could be enough to get their attention.
Tactile Stimulation
By licking or touching an individual, service dogs can provide sensory input to people who may “stim” to achieve that same input. While there’s nothing wrong with stimming, having a service dog intervene can help a person trying to accomplish certain tasks that stimming might interfere with. Tactile stimulation from a service dog also gives people a “focus point,” which helps them block out any other sensory inputs that may be bothering them.
Studies have shown that people with autism are more sensitive to tactile stimulation than their allistic peers. This is a great opportunity for a service dog to step in and provide that sometimes-necessary sensory experience.
Retrieving Items
Some people with IDD have difficulties with fine motor skills, including picking up small objects. A service dog can be trained to pick these items up for their owner and hand them over. This is probably easy to envision, since there are several “retriever” dog breeds in existence.
Keep in mind that a dog doesn’t need to be a Labrador or Golden Retriever to perform this task.
Many other dog breeds make perfect service dogs, and those should be considered, too.
Benton County Developmental Disability Programs
Service dogs are welcome at The Arc of Benton County’s programs for people with IDD. These include The Arc Achievement Program (TAAP), the Employment Training Program, and our upcoming life skills courses.
Are you new to The Arc and have a service dog? We’d love to get to know you both! Contact us at office@arcbenton.org or at 541-753-1711.