Dog 4 Deeds

I was given permission from the mom of a little boy I teach in playgroup to share this link with all of you on my blog. JD "Deeds" attends the structured playgroup I help teach and stole my heart right away, along with all the other little ones in the class. JD has had a rough year: autism diagnosis, the beginning of seizures and another diagnosis of Periventricular Leukomalatia and mild Cerebral Palsy. His parents are trying to get him a specially trained service dog but it costs A LOT. feel free to hop on over and take a look at the blog his mom set up for him and even donate a few dollars if you can.

http://dog4deeds.wordpress.com/about_deeds/
I have been impressed with how well children with Autism respond to animals. I recently attended a panel of adults that are on the Autism spectrum. A member of the audience asked them their thoughts and feeling on animals. Each member of the panel beamed as they explained why they love animals and what is about animals that helps them. Autism is a neurological disorder that effects social and emotional development, especially the interpretation nonverbal communication that we rely on so heavily when communicating. One person who was on the panel explained it so well why she loved animals when she said,"If a dog doesn't like you he will bark and growl at you. People are different. I have a hard time telling if they really mean what they say. A dog doesn't expect anything from me, he just lets me love him."
Since then I have become a believer of service dogs and animal therapy. What a great way to learn affection and expression of emotions than with an animals known as "mans best friend". Hop on over to JD's blog and take a look!