AUTISM SOLUTIONS
Ethical Considerations Need
to Be Made for Service Dogs
By Rebecca RICHARDSON
Some children with autism and their families are known to benefit from the presence
of an assistance dog. Little research has been done on ethical issues that can arise
around the dogs’ welfare or methods to limit the stress on both the dog and the
family. The goal of this piece is to identify and examine the ethical considerations of
dogs used in service to children with autism.
R
esearch shows the use of autism assistance
dogs improves behavior and symptoms in
some children with autism and can reduce
overall family stress. In a study done to as-
sess the physiological impact of assistance
dogs on children with autism, researchers
measured the cortisol awakening response
(CAR) before and during the time an assistance dog
was introduced into a family with a child with autism
as well as after the dog was removed. Before the in-
troduction of the assistance dog, there was a 58 per-
cent increase in morning cortisol after awakening.
Once an assistance dog was placed in the family, the
increase of morning cortisol dropped to 10 percent.
When the dog was removed from the family, the
morning cortisol jumped to 48 percent (Viau et al.,
2010). There is no doubt that autism assistance dogs
relieve stress in children with autism and provide
support for families. Unfortunately, there is little or
no literature or research that addresses quality of life
for the dog.
The first issue to be explored is how laws could apply
to the protection of autism assistance dogs and how
those laws would be enforced. Laws prohibit abuse,
but legal follow-through is difficult. And, legally,
what abuse entails in regards to service work has not
been established.
The ethical issues to be explored include protections
owed to autism service dogs. It is important to un-
derstand the stressors that dogs experience during
44 | Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 74