About Us
Our vision
To train and provide assistance dogs, at no charge, to autistic people of any age who will significantly benefit.
‘Enriching lives – Expanding horizons’
Our mission
To have a positive impact on the lives of autistic people and their families, to empower them to achieve their goals, improve access to their chosen communities and to enhance their emotional and physical wellbeing.
Our commitment
Through the provision of our assistance dogs, trained to mitigate some of the disabling impacts of autism and the environment, we are committed to creating and maintaining successful client-dog partnerships that impact positively on the lives of autistic individuals and families.
Experience and Passion
Within our leadership team we have a depth of autism experience and dog-training expertise. With insider expertise across the spectrum of autism, we understand the uniqueness of profile, and the importance of recognising the individual strengths and support needs of every one of our autistic partners.
Our team are passionate about what we do because we have an understanding of how it is to be autistic and/or to live in a family impacted by autism, and we know how transformational a successful assistance dog partnership can be for all involved. Our ultimate goal is to see an autism assistance dog partnered with every person who would benefit. Through our charity, we actively commit to making this vision a reality..
Innovation
We have access to the latest research and use that knowledge, together with our collective years of experience, to formulate our training practices in line with our responsibilities to our dogs, their autistic partners and the wider community.
We work exclusively for the autistic population and are different from other assistance dog charities in our approach. Throughout the training process, from new puppy to trained dog, we work with individuals and families in their homes and local area. This means we can be confident our dogs are bonded with and trained to provide the best possible support to their individual autistic partners. We do not charge for our dogs, nor do we operate blanket policies about who we can and can’t support, but instead consider applicants on an individual case basis.
Our commitment to our autistic partners and families
- To place them at the centre of all that we do;
- To recognise and respect their strengths and needs as individuals;
- To adapt our methods and style of communication to enable them to self-advocate as much as is possible;
- To work together to facilitate positive outcomes in areas of importance to them;
- To bespoke-train dogs who can empower them to achieve their individual goals;
- To use our expertise to provide support throughout every stage of the process;
- To always act with openness and integrity;
- To be responsive and flexible in our approach and to remain solution-focused;
- To successfully manage any issues that arise.
Our commitment to our dogs
To prioritise their overall well-being at all times by responding immediately and appropriately to their physical and emotional needs, to train and nurture them to the required standard using positive methods, to expect high standards of working-behaviour whilst recognising the need for them to have time off for play and rest, to ensure their autistic partners and their families are taught how to handle and care for them before they are placed and to ensure they always have easy access to a safe space away from any behaviours which they find challenging.
