Autistic girl from Sheffield says therapy dog has ‘changed her life’

An 11-year-old autistic girl has said she “doesn’t know what she would do without” her support dog, who has transformed her life.

Scarlette, from Hackenthorpe in Sheffield, would refuse to leave the house, go for periods of not speaking and even self-harm before black Labrador Ivanhoe arrived in 2022, her mother said.

Last year, Support Dogs UK received more than 4,000 applications for therapy dogs for autistic children – but only one in 70 youngsters got one.

Scarlette’s mother Vicki said Ivanhoe was like a “co-parent”, even taking her daughter to the school bus every day.

Vicki, 31, said before Ivanhoe came along, life was “very dark”.

No one could visit because Scarlette, who was diagnosed with autism aged six, found it too overwhelming and if she got too anxious would start scratching and hurting herself.

“She didn’t go to school at all as it just wasn’t suitable for her”, Vicki said.

“That was the biggest challenge and it really impacted me and her dad,” she said.

“Scarlette would go into crisis and get really angry and upset and become non verbal.”

But now, Scarlette is back at school full time, smiles more and finds it easier to make friends.

Vicki said Ivanhoe went everywhere with Scarlette and was so in tune with her, he could tell her parents when she was starting to get overwhelmed.

She said: “Ivanhoe is like a co-parent.

“He’s really supportive and lets us know things we’re not aware of like if Scarlette is tired or anxious by giving her a nudge with his nose.”

He also curls into her legs when they are out so she feels “safe and protected” and waits to greet her off the school bus at the end of the day.

To train a dog like Ivanhoe takes two years, at a cost of £27,000, and the waiting list can be up to three years.

The puppies are sourced from breeders, rescue homes and rehoming programmes and then spend from eight weeks old to about a year being socialised and trained.

They also live with “foster parents”.

From there, they go to what Support Dogs UK call “big school” where the pups undergo specialist training and are then matched with a client.

As well as therapy dogs for autistic children, Support Dogs UK also provides dogs to help with physical disabilities and epilepsy.

However, due to the high cost of training the dogs, lack of funding and lack of volunteers, supply could not keep up with demand, said the charity.

And since autism was now more “in the national consciousness”, requests at Support Dogs UK were ever growing, added Danny Anderson, head of fundraising.

Puppy coordinator Karlie Wordsworth said support dogs helped to build autistic children’s confidence, which was “so rewarding” to see.

She said dogs were also taught to “brace and tug” to keep children safe and do “lap rests” and “full body rests” for comfort – similar to a weighted blanket.

Families get 10 years of 24/7 support with their dog.

Ms Wordsworth said: “We are so desperate for volunteers – we are only at half capacity at the moment so we cannot help enough people.”

Mr Anderson added: “Awareness of autism has increased over the past 10 years so people are desperately seeking ways to make their children’s lives better and safer.

“People see us as the end-of-the-road solution so that’s why we really need to grow.

“The waiting list is huge and demand is through the roof.”

Scarlette’s mother Vicki said that Ivanhoe had helped her as well as her daughter.

She said it was refreshing to be “heard and understood” as a parent of a child with additional needs.

“I felt really accepted at Support Dogs UK,” she said.

“It’s made life more liveable – before Ivanhoe I couldn’t take my eyes off Scarlette for two seconds and now I’ve got that extra support – it’s nice to be able to breathe again.”

As Scarlette approached her teens, Vicki said Ivanhoe would still go everywhere with her.

She said: “If Scarlette goes on a sleepover, Ivanhoe goes on a sleepover.

“They do everything together and their bond is unbreakable.”

Scarlette added: “We have a very big connection… I think it’s the best connection.”

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