Meet The Local Autism Initiative Changing Lives

29 Mar Meet The Local Autism Initiative Changing Lives

A local initiative that was set up to enhance the educational engagement and social motivation of autistic children in schools is hoping to get a £50,000 funding pot which would allow them to expand their work across Essex.

Dogs For Development CIC of Colchester emphasise that during the last decade it has become more widely accepted that animal assistance in therapy and education has a multitude of positive effects on humans. Among the well-documented effects of animal-human interaction, some of the benefits include: increased social attention, social behavior and interpersonal interactions.

Their hardwork and dedication has led to them being some of the projejcts lined up in this season’s The People’s Projects, if selected they would get £50,000 worth of funding which would allow them to improve their work.

Natalia Anne of Dogs For Development told us “Every time I see a dog interact with one of the autistic children we work with I am blown away by the incredible impact they have. Dogs are totally non-judgemental and provide unconditional love. The children feel safe and un-judged by the dogs, which helps them open up and interact socially – helping to decrease the social isolation so many children we work with experience every day.”

She added “Winning this funding would mean we could have a profound impact on the lives of so many people in desperate need of help. This means everything to me, the dogs and the children we work with!”

With merely days to go, you can vote for them here: https://www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk/projects/view/transforming-young-lives-canine-assisted-therapy-and-autism