How Berry the autism assistance dog 'transformed my son's life'

At the age of two, JJ Gilman was diagnosed with Global Development Delay along with autism and ADHD and was “struggling socially and emotionally” but at the age of eight, life changed for the better when he received “the most life-changing gift” in the form of Berry - an autism assistance dog.

After his diagnosis of Global Development Delay (GDD), the family also discovered JJ had a brain malformation and suffers from chronic pain. He takes painkillers and displays signs of challenging behaviour.

According to Mencap, children diagnosed with GDD take longer to reach developmental milestones than other children of their age, including walking or talking, movement skills, learning new things and interacting with others socially and emotionally.

Mrs Gilman said: “Cognitively, JJ is very, very bright but his ability to transfer his skills is almost zero. Nothing he learns can he put into practice in everyday life. Everything is black and white. He has shocking anxiety.

"Socially and emotionally, he is about four. He has not made any progress and is unlikely to make any progress. He struggles to focus or sit still; he is always jigging about. We had a torrid time with him and getting him to go to school was awful.”

Life for the Gilman family changed when Mrs Gilman found Sheffield-based charity, Support Dogs on the internet.

Founded in 1992, the national charity provides all its services entirely free of charge to those in need of them, specialising in three specific programmes: autism assistance dogs for children with autism, seizure alert dogs to detect seizures in people with epilepsy, and disability assistance dogs for people with a range of physical disabilities and medical conditions.

In 2019, JJ was accepted onto the autism programme and was matched with Berry.

’She has been the most life-changing gift that anyone has ever given us’

“I spent two weeks in Sheffield for the start of the training which was great fun. I went there to get a dog for my son and got a life-changing gift. Berry was brilliant and everything went absolutely to plan.

“Having Berry gives him something to focus on and so he doesn’t have to think about being frightened or anxious when leaving the house,” says Mrs Gilman. “Berry walks to school with him to the gates and sometimes goes into assembly with him. “She is there to love him and let him love her with no expectations. Sometimes JJ just wants to sit on the settee, and she will lie with him, and they have a cuddle. He wants to be with her all the time.

“She is like two different dogs. When she’s with me she’s just a dog. When she’s out with me and JJ and has her jacket on, she is like a robot.

“When JJ’s in bed Berry will follow me around the house like my little shadow but if JJ is in the house, she will be with him. She gives him confidence.”

During lockdown, JJ found life difficult because of the sudden change in routine. “The last six months have been horrendous. I can honestly say I don't think we would have got through it without Berry. It has still been very difficult, but she has given JJ a reason to smile every day and someone to cuddle and love when life is just too much.

“She doesn’t suddenly make everything go away, he is still autistic, but she just makes it easier to deal with. She gives JJ a focus and you can’t put a price on that.

“I can’t imagine what life would be like without Berry; she’s one of the family. It’s as if she has always been here, and I can’t believe what life was like before. She is one of the family. She has been the most life-changing gift that anyone has ever given us.

“We will never be able to repay Support Dogs for what they have done for us. Berry has transformed JJ’s life.”

’ For autistic children, we try to match them with a dog who is slow, ploddy and laid back’

One in four of the Support Dogs are found in rescue centres where the charity will put the dogs through an intensive professional training programme.

It takes approximately 18 months to train a support dog where he/she will initially spend several weeks on basic training with their trainers before being assessed for suitability to help people who require assistance.

Danny Anderson, fundraising manager at Support Dogs, told homecare.co.uk: “When we do our training the main thing we look for in the dog is confidence. A dog that is not going to be fazed by traffic, noise, kids, adults, cars, things falling over, so it’s just able to deal with things and be happy as well as being busy and then the training goes from there.

“We like to find different types of dogs to match the behaviour of the person.

“For autistic children, who do not like loud noises, we try to match them with a dog who is slow, ploddy and laid back and will always stay with the child.

“For people with physical disabilities, the dog is often confident and happy and always wanting to please by picking things up and doing practical tasks such as picking clothes out of the washing machine and helping the owner pull socks off their feet. They generally love being busy.”

Before the dog is allowed to go to its new home, further assessment and training with an instructor and client will be required. Once this training is completed the dogs qualify as support dogs, and the start of a relationship will last around eight years before they retire.

When the dog is ready to retire, Support Dogs train a new dog before the old dog retires.

Mr Anderson said: “We introduce the second dog when the first dog is still working but this can be a delicate process. But we find they get on well and usually find the first dog helps to train the second dog."

During the pandemic, training became a challenge for the charity. Mr Anderson said: “It was really hard for people with autism as they rely on routine. It is so important for them but during lockdown, it was all shattered. The trainers have also had to adjust to training the dogs. Instead of face-to-face training, we have had to do this on Zoom.”

Because of the pandemic, Mr Anderson has seen a “40 per cent drop in profits” compared to the previous year.

Mr Anderson added: “Fundraising has never been more important. This year we are wanting to do a fundraising dog walk and a sponsored litter pick. People can also help by donating £5 per month."

To find out more about Support Dogs, click here