I live in N.C , so...all I know is there is a place called fourpaws4ability.org in Ohio. You can go to their website and see how it works..I know you have to do fund raiders. There may be other options where you live ..I am not sure....google therapy dogs or autism dogs and see what comes up..also I would write Dr.Phil or Oprah...really !! These dogs are expensive..they may help you or do something since April is autism awareness month..just some ideas..hope this helps..hugs !

We've looked into it and will be looking into it again for my almost 3.5 year old. He bolts, escapes and is non-verbal. He nearly drown last week in a pool and this week almost ran out in front of a car.

The dogs are super expensive, averaging about $12-14,000. Pretty much every organization wants you to fundraise in their names, get booths at events, solicit your job and your family and friends. You have to be confident and okay with asking people for money. You can do stuff like bake sale or sell things or whatever and they don't care where the money comes from (it can be all yours).

I've talked to some places where we can get dogs cheaper but its seems fishy. A child's care shouldn't be put in the paws of a 6-8 month old dog. They are still puppies, be wary of places that can get your a dog trained and assigned in a matter of weeks or months. It's tempting to want to get one as cheap and quick as possible but then you have a really expensive dog you have to babysit and invest in to make it worthy of it's tasks. I had one place that trained PTSD dogs for soldiers tell me they'd "train it on the side" for my son so I could get one free through the government and just say it's for my veteran husband. Sneaky business practices or suggestions on how to get around requirements really make me uncomfortable.

The point is that places that breed dogs know how desperate us ASD moms are when it comes to the safety of our kids and they'll use some unsavory practices to try and get you to give them your money. The fourpaws4ability seems like a good choice, they have a waiting list though and I believe their application has a section that needs to be filled out by the diagnosing physician. Anyway, good luck, we're going down this same path ourselves if you want to chat some time.

Our dog is a service dog from 4 paws for ability. A wonderful organization.

A therapy dog is not a service dog. If you are interested in information on autism service dogs I can offer a lot of information. An Autism Service Dog changed our non verbal and low functioning daughters life so dramatically that I founded Pawsitive Service Dog Solutions two years ago. We train and place them for kids all over the USA to stop wandering, bolting, meltdowns and for gluten detection and for seizures among a lot of other things. I know first hand what a life saver These dogs can be. We help the families raise all the money to cover the training and usually with our extensive fund raising program most families raise it all in under three months pretty easily. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

If you google it on the web a lot of different sites will come up. Wilderwood, Nothstar, 4 paws for ability.org. Most places you have to travel to, I think Wilderwood comes to you. You can also do it privately. We went with 4 paws for ability. We just finished fundraising. I was also able to get a partial grant which helped tremendously. It's mostly a personal choice, but do your research. They require a perscription from your Dr. Some placed will place a puppy with you to help build the bond others use an older dog no older than 1 that they feel can tolerate the child's behavior. If you search autism service dog you'll find a lot of info on it. Good luck