 |
||||
    
|
Newsroom May's Charity of the Month: Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind
It has been said that a dog is man’s best friend. The dogs that are trained by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind offer much more than companionship – they are four-legged therapists that provide independence and joy to thousands of people with disabilities throughout Ireland.
The MDRT Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance dogs for people with blindness or visual impairments. This grant was sponsored by Edward J. Dwyer, FLIA, a Gold Knight and 28-year MDRT member from Cork, Ireland.
This grant will be used to support the Assistance Dogs for Families and Children with Autism program, which provides assistance dogs for parents and children to help improve children’s’ behavior and social skills. This program was first launched in 2005, and the first of its kind in Europe.
Autism is a developmental disorder that usually first appears in children during their first three years of life, and often impedes a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Because there is no known cure for autism, therapeutic programs such as the dog assistance program allow children to foster improved mental and social developments in a nurturing environment.
Each dog wears a specially designed harness that has a leash for parents to hold, and a belt that is connected around the child’s waist with a handle for the child to hold the dog. The dogs, usually Labradors, Golden Retrievers and some German Shepherds, respond to the commands of the parents while building a bond with the child. Over time, parents have noticed that children become calmer in home and at school, and experience reduced social anxiety when interacting with other children.
“The assistance dog program has restored a sense of family to us,” a parent of a child in the program said. “We no longer now have to look at two separate lives, one with our child and one without.”
Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind was founded in 1976, and provides services and programs free-of-charge to people with blindness, visual impairments and other disabilities throughout Ireland. |
|||
|
|
|||
