Our fully-managed Assistance Dog Programme balances the need to prepare the dog to be able to mitigate the challenges of autism, to educate the handler and their family about how to interact with and care for their dog successfully, and to manage the family dynamic to ensure that the partnership is successful.
The Programme is highly bespoke to each client. Each of our professionally-assessed dogs are trained to mitigate the specific challenges that the handler experiences, and we provide a specialist programme of human support which is vital to ensure the success of each partnership.
Our work helps to lower debilitating anxiety, reduce self-injury/harm behaviours, improve poor sleeping patterns, and increase social skills, which eventually leads to improved confidence and cooperation. The impact our work on the whole family can be life-changing and takes a dedicated team many months of specialist support to improve their quality of family life.
The programme is delivered in multiple phases, and is effectively managed and documented at all times:
• Phase 1 – Profiling the client and matching the dog
• Phase 2a – Basic dog training
• Phase 2b – Psychotherapy (continues throughout)
• Phase 3 – Bespoke Advanced Training Programme
• Phase 4 – Family Training
• Phase 5 – Delivery Inclusion Training
• Phase 6 – Aftercare Support
The waiting time between enrolment and being matched with a dog will depend upon how many clients we currently have as well as our resources at the time. We will let you know the approximate waiting time to be matched with a dog when you join the waiting list; it is usually around 6-12 months.
Once you are officially matched with a dog, the training should follow the following timeline:
• Approximately 8 weeks of basic obedience training.
• Approximately 6 weeks of advanced task training.
• Around 4 days of Family Training at our farm in Congleton, Cheshire.
• Around 3 days of Delivery Inclusion Training in your home and local area.
However, the exact time will depend on multiple variables and may not follow this timeline exactly.
Please see the ‘Assistance Dog Programme Proposal’ document for more information about our programme and how it works.
In order to be eligible to apply for the programme, the applicant must fulfil all of the following criteria:
1. The applicant must have an official diagnosis of ASD.
2. The applicant must be at least 4 years of age at the time of application (please note that there isn’t an upper age limit for this programme).
3. The applicant’s permanent residence must be in mainland England, Scotland, or Wales.
4. The applicant must not have unmanaged epilepsy.
For more information about eligibility and reasons why an application may be declined, please see the ‘Assistance Dog Programme Proposal’ document.
The client is required to contribute a total of £14,990 towards the programme.
We ask that this is pay in the following instalments:
• Deposit to enrol on the programme - £4,000
• Payment on successful match with a dog - £10,990
All administration and management fees are currently covered by the charity for each client, with the actual cost of the entire programme averaging at costing over £23,000.
We understand that our programme is a large financial investment for autistic people and their families. In many cases, client funding has been raised through their local authority, grants, or raised through collaboration with the Bradley Lowery Foundation.
We are currently working hard to fundraise to be able to reduce the cost of the programme to the client in the future.
Presently, we are unable to help any further toward the costs of the programme and are unable to provide longer timeframes for payments. However, we have created a booklet with tips around funding and fundraising that may help with raising funds, and we can provide clients with this booklet once they have enrolled.
We ask that you do not begin to fundraise until your application has been accepted. Applicants are not guaranteed to be accepted on to the programme until we have exchanged Ts and Cs and you are officially enrolled.
Current Application Status: Closed
Find out how to apply for the Autism Assistance Dog Programme: How to Apply for the Programme
Application Window: recent intake was closed on 14th March 2025
To be notified when the next application period begins, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media.
Please treat our staff fairly, with dignity and respect.
Please note that applicants are not required to participate in fundraising or public relations activities without their expressed and voluntary permission.
Autism Dogs Charity reserves the right to remove a client at any time if new information comes to light that leads us to believe that that programme will not be successful.
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