Assistance dog Summer meets with Ashcroft and Inscape House students
Students from Ashcroft and Inscape House schools enjoyed a visit from Laura, Noah, and assistance dog Summer from Wild Spirit Training this week.
Bright and early on Monday morning at Inscape House, Laura began by sharing her personal journey with her own assistance dog, Summer.
After falling ill with chronic fatigue syndrome, followed shortly after with an autism diagnosis at the age of 19, Summer entered Laura’s life to help with practical tasks and support her while she completed her university degree.
Laura then founded dog training organisation Wild Spirit Training in 2019, which specialises in training dogs to become assistant animals for people with autism or a visual impairment.
Laura and Noah demonstrated a range of tricks that assistance dogs can do to help someone in crisis: such as providing deep pressure, helping to pick up items, taking a coat off, and even acting as a block in busy shops or supermarkets when anxiety becomes overwhelming.
After learning about assistance dogs and how to interact with working dogs, students and staff had the chance to pet and handle Summer too.
“I enjoyed meeting the dog as I was able to get more information on getting my own assistant dog and how it made me feel calm when Summer applied ‘deep pressure’ to not feel as anxious.” - Ashcroft School student, aged 14
“I didn’t think that assistant dogs were accepted in universities to help with hidden disabilities like autism but since listening to Laura and her own personal journey, it has opened my eyes that maybe getting an assistant dog could help me with my anxiety and accessing qualifications when I leave Inscape.” – Inscape House post-16 student
Danielle Eaton, AAI Practitioner (Animal Assisted Intervention Practitioner), shared:
“It was an amazing opportunity for our students to meet Laura, Noah, and Summer.
“It has shown Ashcroft and Inscape students the power of animals to help them into their chosen career pathway and help them gain qualifications and a degree at university.”
Thank you to Laura and Noah (and Summer too, of course) for taking the time to meet and speak with our students.
Learn more about Inscape School here and Ashcroft School here.
If this has piqued your interest, you can also watch more about animal therapy in our short video here.