Tracey Stoll, with NEADS Assistance Dog Gleason, spoke at our Breeding Center opening with the following remarks:
NEADS has had a huge impact on my life for multiple years now, and it’s exciting to be a part of kicking off the new venture of the Breeding Center. Like every client team sent into the world through NEADS, Gleason and I have a story we are building together and special work we love to share. Gleason is my second partner from NEADS. We were matched in March of 2021. As a testament to the thorough interview process of NEADS, we were an immediate fit. Gleason came into the room full of life, love, and energy that would match perfectly to my work environment, my family personalities, and myself.
Upon being matched, NEADS provides thorough training to each team here on campus. Having gone through this training twice, I can attest to the expertise and professionalism that drives every detail to create a confident and capable team leaving campus. This commitment to success does not end when you leave campus. NEADS continues to support and educate you throughout the life and work with your NEADS dog whenever you need it.
After competing training and passing the final assessments, the team is ready for work. Gleason and I began our work together at two organizations I run for individuals challenged with social-emotional learning disorders and autism. Our clients span the ages of two to 30 years old. Gleason’s skills have a profound effect on my clients at any age, and on my colleagues and the environments in which we work. At The Common Room, where Gleason and I spend the majority of our time, we work with young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, challenged with high cognitive autism and similar social profiles.Gleason is always the first one to greet a member or bring over a toy to initiate connection together. He provides our Common Room members with a reassuring presence, a fun topic of conversation to connect with others around, and a supportive presence.
Some of our work time is also spent at Learning Solutions social-emotional center with younger clients. In this environment, Gleason and I work on social skills and behavior either indiviually ro in small groups.These students struggle with anxiety, perspective taking, understanding non-verbal communication, and being able to build successful relationships with others. Gleason provides a playmate with predictable responses to certain gestures and requests, patience when a client needs thinking time, and a partner who is willing to learn and practice a skill over and over until it is mastered and functional.
I will always remember the profound effect my highly trained NEADS Assistance Dog had on two young clients who had experienced significant trauma. Using Animal Assisted Intervention and partnering with the special education team at their school, we met weekly with each of the students. WE worked methodically to create specific goals for our intervention, to track data both on the students’ behaviors but also on the dog’s responsiveness. The consistent presence of the dog combined with creatie instruction proved to elicit strong, positive behavioral data within our 30 minute sessions at school. The students were more likely to follow a prompt or direction the first time, more likely to control agitation and use coping strategies in order to remain in proximity of the Assistance Dog; and showed us many of their thoughts and feelings not otherwise shared when they created letters and pictures to hide in their coveted friend’s cape. A true testament to the relevancy of the data we were taking was when the Occupational Therapist working with one of these students asked if she could co-treat the student in a session with us. The Occupational Therapist had not been able to get the student to attempt certain skills that were challenging. When attempting those same skills such as balancing on one foot and then another or writing letters with correct grasp and spatial awareness, the student proved to be more compliant and successful when partnered with the Assistance Dog beside him.
In addition to our daily work, GLeason and I have enjoyed presenting in collaboration with NEADS to share specific Animal Assisted Education and Intervention experiences with other professionals. The chance to educate the global community about the expected training, consistent behavior, and controlled presence of a truly, highly trained Assistance Dog is never trivial.Gleason and I have experiened community settings where vendors have been skeptical at first but immediately impressed with the competency of the NEADS trained team. We have heard remarks such as, “wow, other dogs who are service dogs bark and jump on my counter, but I was told I am not allowed to ask them to leave.” It is these moments when the stellar expectations of the NEADS training program allow a handler to educate others on appropriate expectatations and their rights to ask an unruly dog, regardless of the vest, to leae their premise.
We look forward to continuing our journey with NEADS Nation and welcoming the proud future pups to follow Gleason and others’ highly trained and proud footsteps!
