brookcove
Posted : 8/12/2008 8:12:29 AM
Congratulations! I know that represents a lot of hard work and dedication on your part and Neiko's too. Ben took the course and passed the pretest, but became seriously ill when we had the chance to do the real thing - and then the only tester in the state (at the time) moved.
The lady who adopted Cord does therapy work at senior centers to begin with - not full-time care units but the next step down. For children's work, she starts with the reading programs that BevoLasVegas mentioned. In fact, she started the one in her area. She was also able to start her dog working with church groups.
Her last dog took very well to visiting full care units and children's critical care centers. One of the things she liked about Cord was that he can be switched on command from play mode to social mode. I also suggested looking into visiting adult enrichment center classrooms like the one my autistic brother attends, since Cord has plenty of exposure already to "out of the ordinary" people.
I've always wanted to do a program specializing in autistic children and adults, but there's nothing organized in this state aimed only at autistic individuals, as a group.