My sister Katie is an extremely outgoing, funny, caring person who will talk to anyone for hours. She loves going out to the mall, watching movies and spending time with family and friends. However my sister Katie is very different from most other 27 year olds, she has Autism. Living with Katie is a very rewarding, but also a very challenging experience. Her funny, innocent personality can be a joy to be around but Katie also suffers from severe behavioral outbursts that my family has deemed “meltdowns”.

Her meltdowns can sometimes come out of the blue with no warning or can be a process that progressively gets worse. During a meltdown she will get very anxious and frustrated at first, which will then escalates into severe anger. She will begin screaming and acting out much like a young child having a temper tantrum. However, hers can get violent where she will throw and break things and she often tries to run away during the process.

Katie likes order and control, and a lot of her meltdowns are prompted by things not going as planned or her not getting her way. When this happens and she is about to meltdown she can sometime be calmed by having her attention averted elsewhere. Nothing is as calming and as effective at avoiding a meltdown as an interaction with a dog.

Katie has always adored dogs and they have always been a very important part of her life. When Katie is upset, being able to pet and talk with a dog is very therapeutic to her. She will talk to them and cry to them as if they are real people and this provides a channel for her anxiety to escape without having it escalate to a full meltdown. There have been many times when she is upset and she is unable to see the dogs, so she will call someone to talk to their dogs over the phone to express her emotions. The dogs don’t have to do anything but sit there and get pet, but Katie’s entire day can be positively transformed by even the slightest interaction with a dog.

Even when she is not having behavioral problems Katie is constantly thinking about the next time she will be able to see a dog. She even gets presents and cards for all the dogs she knows every Christmas. Anytime she sees someone walking on the street with a dog she stops to pet it, which allows her to have a calming social interaction in crowded places. She even began going to an animal shelter a few times a month to help take care of dogs, and we have noticed that it has helped her baseline anxiety directly after going to the shelter.

I have seen the importance that dogs have played in my sister’s life, and how beneficial they have been to helping her achieve greater happiness. There is something extremely special about the interaction of a dog and human that allows people to instantly feel better. They are a nonjudgmental, soothing, unconditional source of support. I believe therapy dogs can help so many people with a multitude of different issues and it is my hope that many more people will begin to use them.