By Dr. Michele Kilmer
I grew up with pets; I had both a dog and cat in my childhood home. My husband and I got our third dog, Eve, as soon as we bought our house in Northwest Arkansas. She’s still with us after 14 years! Eve’s relationship with my three children fascinated me. She seemed to know exactly what they individually needed when they were growing up. She was the first to teach me the importance of the human-animal bond among children with special needs. As I watched her connect with our friends’ children who were autistic, I began to wonder if a trained canine could be incorporated into the therapeutic plan for children with autism. I read about the benefits of service dogs for autistic children and wondered if those effects could be reproduced with a dog who was highly trained as both a therapy and service dog to serve many children, not just one child. If those positive benefits could be replicated in a clinical setting with one dog, then families who cannot afford a service dog could have access to this specialized therapy and perhaps the child could experience similar effects with socialization and emotional regulation. This hypothesis is what led me to Gryffin.
I wanted to name him Gryffin since many children who I see in the A4A program like the Harry Potter series, and I thought it would be fun to have the black dog from Harry Potter working with me in the A4A program. I didn’t know much, but I knew that I wanted him to interact with the children more than a typical therapy dog is trained to do. I surmised it would be important for the dog to intentionally interact with the child to encourage the child to play with him, and perhaps give the child motivation to vocalize their desire for that interaction. I imagined the dog playing fetch with a child, and how that simple interaction could improve an autistic child’s prosocial behavior.
I got Gryffin on November 1, 2021, when he was 11 weeks old. The breeder told me that Gryffin loved playing fetch more than any of his littermates, and I knew he was the right puppy for the job!
Gryffin has been a part of the A4A program since the day I brought him home. He loves going to the university and seeing all the nursing students in their red scrubs. His first trip to Reynolds Stadium was when he was 12 weeks old!
Gryffin began puppy socialization classes in December 2021 and then moved on to courses required for therapy dog training. He also began working with five honors students of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing and one student from Fulbright Psychological Science Department when he was 4 months old.
The students taught him basic commands such as sit, stay, wait, come, drop, off, down and up. They taught him the American Sign Language (ASL) signs for the commands so that nonverbal children could communicate with Gryffin.
Gryffin and I went everywhere together. We had to learn each other’s mannerisms to be an effective team.
Gryffin started attending presentations with me when he was 7 months old. Organizers were so excited to have him interact with attendees; they even made nametags for him to wear!
By June 2022, Gryffin was ready to begin animal-assisted therapy with children in the A4A program. He had completed courses required for therapy dogs and was about to begin training specific to ASD to promote prosocial behavior and emotional regulation. Eight children enrolled in the study, each attending one weekly session for one hour with me, Gryffin and a parent. Gryffin was so excited to meet the children outside of ECHP. We would wait for them in our office, then I would say, “Time to work!” and he would immediately go stand by the office door with his tail wagging. He would sit and wait for the caregiver to park the car, then he would focus intently on the child once he saw him or her walking on the bridge toward us.
Right away, it became apparent that the children were fascinated with him. I taught certain commands like “sit” and “drop” to children who used phrase speech or could speak in sentences so they could play fetch with Gryffin, and before long, they wanted to know more commands to say to him. They were motivated to speak to him and their speech language began to improve. Throwing a ball was beneficial for development of bilateral coordination and gross motor skills. Gryffin could also play puzzles with the children with a game designed to hid a treat under a bone then let the dog find the treat by smelling each bone. He would sit close to the child while I was teaching him or her a new lesson in emotional regulation, and sometimes lay down on their feet when they were getting anxious.
We started the first study on prosocial behavior in July 2022. The 6-month study would be the first to evaluate our hypothesis- that animal-assisted therapy with a highly trained canine could produce improvements in prosocial behavior. Eight children were divided into 2 groups; one started with AAT and one attended traditional therapy settings using the same material but not including Gryffin. The groups switched after 3 months so that those in the traditional sessions would now attend AAT, and those who first attended AAT sessions would continue their therapy in a traditional setting. This allowed us to measure changes within each group. This novel study was the foundation upon which future studies were built.
Gryffin has learned over 50 commands to interact with children and is certified in 10 service dog tasks specific to ASD. He passed certification as both a therapy dog and a service dog in 2023. We have completed four AAT studies to date and added two new services to the sessions. We now have a sensory room in which we perform sensory integration therapy and teach sensory strategies for caregivers to perform at home. I am also an EMDR psychotherapist and incorporate this therapy in AAT sessions if indicated. We have soccer goals set up outside for participants to play soccer with Gryffin, which has been one of the most requested activities for all participants. Gryffin is a great soccer player. He can steal the ball and score a goal if participants aren’t watching out!
Gryffin loves his job! He stays right by me when I work late preparing for our next AAT session, and eagerly participates in the challenging training that is required for his job. We cannot wait to see what all the future holds for him and these wonderful children he loves so much!
