Autism dog therapy

MANHATTAN BEACH - Beth Hynes is always looking for new therapy to help her autistic son, Killian.

“There has been growing research that for children with autism a dog can be a very good companion and soul mate for them,” said Beth Hynes.   

Hynes’ son Killian has nonverbal autism and it makes it extremely difficult for Killian to physically communicate with others.  To help her son Hynes found David Dickey for help.  Dickey, owner of K-9 kindergarten, trains dogs to work with autistic children. 

     “There’s two ends to an equation when you work with kids with autism,” said Dickey. “One side is the dogs and one side is the children. I work the dog side of the equation.”

    Dickey uses specific training methods with dogs so that an autistic child and a dog can communicate in methods suited to help the child.  Dickey helped the Hynes adopt an Australian Shepard poodle mix puppy that could eventually become a certified service dog for Killian. The dog’s name is Goody.

“Killian has a limited repertoire of words and one of the things he can say is good and another thing he can say is good day and so we adapted it to Goody so that he would be able to call the dog,” said Hynes.

More than 500 thousand children have autism according to experts. But Dickey says the disorder affects whole families.

“The divorce rate is 85 percent with parents who have a kid with autism,” said Dickey. “The idea is any kind of improvement is what you’re looking for. No matter how small it may seem its huge to the parent and child.”

Dickey is using Killian’s communication device, known as the Tango, to help train Goody to bond with Killian. 

“It really helps the kid connect with the dog,” said Dickey.  “Once you get them to connect with the dog on this then you phase [the Tango] out for the kid and the dog and you get the communication without it and that’s what’s really neat.”

Hynes hopes that with Dickey’s help Killian have a more normal life

“We do hope that they can sit on the couch together and play in the yard together and sleep together at night,” said Hynes.

Dickey says that treating kids like Killian very rewarding.

“You watch the transformation in the children and in the whole life of the family, I mean its just fantastic and you just can’t beat it,” said Dickey. “Its unbelievable.”