008. National Education for Assistance Dog Services, Inc.
Description
This article is from the Service Dogs FAQ, posted to rec.pets.dogs newsgroup. Maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.
008. National Education for Assistance Dog Services, Inc.
Thanks to Tom Rich: NEADS client & board member.
NEADS is a non-profit organization that trains hearing, service, specialty, social and service dogs for the classroom.
A hearing dog responds to important sounds such as fire alarm or smoke alarm, telephone ringing, door knock or bell, baby crying a person's name being called or household appliances. The dog goes back and forth to the sound until his deaf or hard of hearing human partner follows him to the source of the sound.
A service dog retrieves and moves for a person who has a physical disability or uses a wheelchair. The dog goes for help, picks up things that drop, retrieves from high selves, turns on light switches, pulls the wheelchair and carriers essentials.
A specialty dog does many of the same tasks for a person who has multiple disabilities, such as deafness and physical disabilities, and needs more specialized help. Services can be trained as needed.
A social dog works for children and adults who cannot assume total responsibility for a working dog but can benefit from the therapeutic value of a dog. They are trianed for residential settings such as nursing homes, halfway houses and psychotherapy centers. They have the advanced skills of a service dog but can be sometimes handled by a third party. They are certified for public access.
A service dog for the classroom is an innovative teaching tool used by social workers, therapists, early education and special needs teachers working with children with physical, emotional and developmental disabilities. The dogs help them teach basic concepts like "up," "under," "down." Children with histories of sexual or physical abuse often need a catalyst to prompt disclosure. An assistance dog, non-judgemental and unconditionally loving, provides the help necessary to identify children in crisis.
NEADS uses facility-based education, a concept of impressive success. This developes a strong working relationship between client ad dog while training together for two weeks, learning to work as a team under the expert supervision of staff. When they leave clients are then fully responsible for the handling, care and health of their with continued NEADS outreach support.
NEADS has trained close to 600 dogs for the above mentioned work. This year is NEADS 20th year of providing assistance dog services. NOTE: that 75% of the dogs trained by NEADS are pound/shelter rescues.
For more information : Call (978) 422-9064 Voice/TDD 9:00 - 4:00 EST or FAX (978) 422-3255. Monday thru Friday office hours. Or write: NEADS, P.O. Box 213, West Boylston, MA. 01583. Or email: NEADSDogs@aol.com. (Verified Feb '97.)
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