Ms Debbie Carr:

I have been a single mum to Aidan, who is now 21, from the time he was diagnosed with autism in 2003. I want to tell the committee what life was like for us in Aidan's early years. Aidan did not speak until he was six. He did not sleep and he did not toilet train until he was eight. He took medication to help him sleep, slow down his thoughts, help with learning and reduce his anxiety levels. Every day I tried to keep Aidan safe and calm and tried to keep everything the same and avoid change. Aidan would break plates and eat them, eat stuff he was not supposed to and try to climb out his bedroom window, which never went well. He did not seem to be able to understand danger and was constantly in and out of hospital. One night, I painted a black Spiderman mural on his bedroom wall. I fell asleep and did not hear Aidan paint himself head to toe in black paint. I was awoken by him in agony as the paint dried and he ended up in hospital on a drip. It was exhausting and I needed the help of my mother and father because Aidan did not sleep. Even with medication, we probably would get only two or three hours broken sleep throughout the night.

We applied for a dog from AADI but we did not hold out much hope of this making our lives better or even of getting a dog. We got Gandhi in May 2017 and Aidan made his first friend. They became inseparable. Gandhi would not let Aidan cross the road and definitely not leave the house, especially through windows. He pushes his whole body against Aidan and the pressure seems to work really well when Aidan is upset. Gandhi sleeps on Aidan’s bed with him. Over time, Aidan’s sleep medication was reduced and then the other medications came down. Gandhi attaches to Aidan and the child who needed everything to be the same and kept us prisoners in our own home due to fears of leaving and meeting strangers now goes to The Square, the gym and his autism services on his own with his dog, Gandhi.

Today I can have friends, I can go on a night out and I can even work part time while Aidan is out with his dog making a life as best it can be for someone with autism. These dogs seriously improve the quality of the life of the person who has autism and the family with autism to have a semblance of a normal life.