The house is growing quiet little by little and today I sent the big kids off to Montana to spend the Christmas break with their dad. This was the first time they have flown alone and you could say nerves were getting the best of them. Made if off though, safe and sound. Next week dad heads back to Dutch Harbor Alaska for work and then things will really be quiet...probably to quiet.
Maybe I
am a little weird but I like going to the airport because in all the chaos there
are so many different people. You have soldiers, families, business travelers,
and I noticed a lot of kids traveling alone for the holiday to families far
away. In the mix of all the people I spotted a family with four kids. All of
the kids were under the age of ten and what caught my attention was a guide dog
that was flying right along side of the family.
One
thing that has seemed to happen to me is I am able to spot autism now in other
children, if it’s clear anyway and a year ago kids with autism weren’t even a
part of my thinking process. I would have never noticed this difference in
children if I hadn’t been forced to learn and be educated. Sometimes you see a
child who potentially has autism and the way mom or dad are handling things
confirms it. Sometimes you see a child who may be autistic and the parents don’t
have a clue, which shows also. The stress of the parent is flowing and for good
reason if they don’t understand why there child is different. I didn’t occur to
me the guide dog was an autism guide dog until I watched for bit and I have to
say once I figured it out I was blown away by how much help this dog had to be
for the family.
The dog
was a medium sized black lab and still appeared to be somewhat of a puppy and
on the end of his leash was a little girl around the age of five or six. The
little girl was distracted by everything but the dog was not. Mom and dad were
busy trying to stay as organized as possible and manage all of the kids at the
same time. Most of the time mom had her back to her daughter working away and I
was so very full of envy she was able to do this! Every time the little girl
wanted to wander the dog would not move an inch, keeping his eyes on mom and
dad. Mom would circle around the luggage rack and the dog would follow right
along with the little girl. I wish I could have seen up close if the little
girl was actually hanging onto the leash or if it was attached somehow but I assume
it was attached to her.
Bottom
line for this awesome autism dog, this little girl had a four legged friend whose
sole purpose was to keep her safe and close and nothing was going to break that
dog’s mission. I left Phillip at home for this airport trip for the simple fact
it would have been a nightmare. Just thinking about keeping him directed and
calm in a sea of people gave me anxiety, so watching the dog erase that anxiety
for the family was just amazing. I bet that amazing dog even guided her through
security with no problem at all. Phillip would have broken the moment we had to
stand in line and the day would have only grown worse from there which made me
have to fight the urge to bother this family with a million questions about how
the dog has helped them with daily life. It made me want to board the plane
with the kids and possibly become the most annoying autism mommy this family
ever experienced.
I read
articles about guide dogs for autism and people have told me how they help but
to see it in action is pretty moving when you understand the challenges. Ipads
are fun and easy to use but these dogs can increase the quality of life for an
entire family in such an important way, more families need these dogs. From
what I could see in a very short time and just watching from a distance guide
dogs for autism is an extreme necessity or at least after watching this one in
action….I am sure feeling like one would be an extreme necessity around here.
Here is a link to more information on autism service dogs http://voices.yahoo.com/autism-service-dogs-5550825.html?cat=5
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