Paws 4 Autism

Children with spectrum behaviors have a multitude of issues that they must cope with on a daily basis. Many are overwhelmed with sensory input, do not know how to interact appropriately with peers or authority figures, are easily frustrated and overwhelmed due to their lack of communication skills.
 
Empathy, moral conscience, respect and appropriate peer interactions are difficult at best to teach in a structured environment. Through the Paws 4 Autism Canine Assisted Social Skills In Education Program, teams will work with the children on a one-to-one basis and/or in small group settings to focus on the skills needed to improve their ability to function appropriately in the school and community environments.

Through our Puppy Partners Program, we have both fulll time foster/trainers as well as Weekend Warriors. Our Weelend Warriors are a vital part of our training program. By "dognapping" a pup for the weekendm these warriors get their "dog fix" and our pups get to be loved and spoiled by new people. This helps the pups learn to acclimate quickly and to multiple handlers. This also provides a much needed mental break for the Foster Trainers.

The EIP Training Center will be a community-based service dog training and autism awareness center. Paws 4 Autism will use the facility as a physical location to provide daytime obedience training for service dogs, as well as provide an opportunity for youth and young adults on the autism behavior spectrum to take part in hands-on training. This will increase the number of service dogs that Paws 4 Autism can provide, allow more families to foster our puppies in training, and provide an opportunity for youth and young adult volunteers to learn valuable life skills and work on social skills.

Our continued commitment to serve neurodivergent in the community drives Paws 4 Autism to provide every opportunity to foster and encourage each participant and volunteer to help increase neurodivergent awareness and support for the community at large.

Autistic youth are not afforded the same advantages that non-challenged youth in the community enjoy. Many will leave the educational system with little more than basic life skills. This program, if sustained, will expand the social and work skills of this demographic. The Train the Trainers Program will allow neurodivergent youth & aduults who have been diagnosed as falling within the autism spectrum to attain more comprehensive skill sets, while helping to train autism service dogs for youth in an expanded regional area at a reduced cost while also providing the opportunity to learn both job and social skills, thus increasing their long term employability.