Our autism assistance programme is life-changing for both the child with autism and their family. Autism assistance dogs are trained to provide safety and to facilitate a more independent and socially inclusive life for both the child with autism and their family.

 Our clients are children with autism who are often unable to communicate or express their feelings in a way that is understood by others. They have little sense of danger or of the consequences of their actions. 1 in 100 children in the UK are diagnosed with autism. Half of these children will have a tendency to bolt and wander off from their care givers, which can be very dangerous, and has often resulted in injuries to the child.

 Autism assistance dogs are trained to provide safety and companionship, helping to bring independence and a more socially inclusive life to both the child and their family. They have been shown to:

• Reduce stress for family members
• Promote positive changes in behaviour
• Provide comfort for children with autism when upset
• Reduce behavioural outbursts

Autism is a condition that affects each individual differently. Our autism assistance programme works in a number of ways:

Many of our clients have a very limited sense of danger or of the consequences of their actions. They often have a tendency to bolt and wander off from their care givers, putting themselves in danger and often resulting in injury.

Our dogs are trained to keep a child safe using a wide range of methods, reducing the risk of injury or distress for the child and reducing stress and anxiety for the child’s family.

Please note: We  normally place dogs with children aged between three and ten years, and within a catchment area of any distance that can be driven in two hours from our national training centre in Sheffield.

Sadly due to the impact of the Covid pandemic we are currently dealing with a huge backlog of applications and so currently can only accept new applications for children aged between three and seven years of age. We of course aim to increase this as our resources and capacity allow.

Please click here to read our autism assistance info pack. This provides information to enable you to assess whether you are eligible to apply.

How to apply

Please click here to register your interest in benefiting from our programme and to be alerted when our next information day is taking place.

To apply for this programme you must first attend an information day at our training centre in Sheffield. Information days are held once or twice per year and have a very limited number of spaces. To register your interest please complete the form below. Once we have a date confirmed for the next information day you will then receive an email alert which will enable you to apply for a space. These spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis for those that meet the programme criteria.

Please be aware that as our current waiting list is very high we can only accept applications from children up to the age of 7 years old. This is due to the limited resources of our charity. This age may change dependant on the demand for the programme and resources of our small charity to support it.  

Read stories about our life-changing work.

or 

Watch Azerley and Cohen's story