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If your child has certain medical conditions, you may consider getting a service animal. These highly trained animals are not “pets” in the sense that we normally use the term, though they do become part of the family and are very much loved!
Service animals are used in many ways by many individuals. We are probably most familiar with them in the role of “guide dog” for those with vision impairments. However, they can assist with mobility, such as pulling a wheelchair. Service dogs have also been trained to “sniff” lows in children with Type 1 diabetes, by detecting a change in chemical make-up. This is also true of “seizure awareness dogs” in those with epilepsy, though this ability has been debated in many arenas, and are used to alert family members as to when a seizure is occurring.
Service dogs are specialized animals and receive rigorous training, however, as of this writing, there are no consistent guidelines as to who may provide this training, though Assistance Dogs International has a model law, and voluntary guidelines.
If you do decide that a service animal is for you, do your research on any of the resources listed for your convenience below. Since I am currently only in the investigational stages, I can only say that I have looked at all of the links below thoroughly and believe them to be of high quality. That said, each person considering a service animal will need to investigate each agency providing these animals, in addition to considering their own individual resources in caring for such an animal.
Service and therapy animals can be of great help to those with disabilities in addition to tremendous comfort to individuals who suffer physical or emotional distress due to disabilities.
For more reading, see the following:
Epilepsy:
Seizure dogs (article from Epilepsy Foundation)
Seizure dogs (article from Epilepsy Association of Florida)
Seizure Dogs (4 Paws for Ability application)
Seizure Dogs (Loving Paws application)
Diabetes (for detecting lows in those with Type 1 diabetes):
Dogs 4 Diabetics/Armstrong Project Application
Hypoglycimia Alert Dogs (Loving Paws application)
Autism:
For the Hearing Impaired:
4 Paws for Ability Application
For the Blind/Vision Impaired:
Guide Dog Application (adults)
Application for http://www.lovingpaws.org/
Multipurpose Service Dogs:
4 Paws for Ability Application
Mobility Assistance Animals:
Application for http://www.4pawsforability.org/index.html
Miscellaneous Resources:
Service Animal Registry of America
Rights of Persons with Service Animals (written to business owners)
Delta Society
International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP)
Photo credit: Stock Xchng http://www.sxc.hu/photo/907271
