How autism assistance dog Oslo has helped Emily from Northamptonshire more than her parents could imagine

A family from Northamptonshire have shared how having an assistance dog for their autistic daughter has changed their world.

Steven and Dawn Chilvers have seen a marked improvement in Emily's speech and behaviour since getting Oslo the Labrador from Dogs for Good.

The dad from Long Buckby said: “He’s a really happy, wonderful dog. He really enjoys working with Emily, loves his ball and we all love him. We can’t imagine life without him now."

Emily, six, was diagnosed with autism when she was two and a half years old, which did not come as a surprise to her parents.

In addition to very limited speech and repetitive behaviours, her autism means that wearing clothes and shoes is very overwhelming for her.

In fact, she is only able to tolerate wearing one particular piece of clothing when she goes outdoors - a red dress.

Steven said: “Fortunately, her nana is a wonderful seamstress so as Emily has grown, she has made her bigger versions of the red dress using the exact same material.

“But obviously, not wearing shoes meant that getting her out of the house was a really difficult thing to do.”

Emily is a non-identical twin and her sister Olivia understandably found it hard to share life with a sibling who she was not able to share a positive relationship with.

The family ended up, as many families with autistic children do, doing things separately; one parent would take Olivia out while the other stayed at home with Emily.

“It’s the simple things that you miss,” Steven admitted.

“Reading social media posts from friends who have been doing fun stuff all together as a family; meals out, shopping, holidays etc.

"Emily’s autism meant those things were almost entirely closed off to us.”

While Emily found it a struggle to form positive connections with humans, it was clear from an early age that she bonds closely with animals, with a particular fascination for cows.

Dawn had heard about the positive impact that dogs can have on children with autism and contacted Dogs for Good to find out more about an autism assistance dog for Emily.

The charity, based outside Banbury, Oxfordshire, provides these highly trained dogs to more 50 families who have children with autism and people with a disability or illness, along with many other services.

The right match came in the form of Oslo: a tall, gangly, handsome black Labrador.

“He’s big, so that was a bonus for Emily from the get-go!” Steven said.

“He came for a visit with his instructor and Emily responded very positively to him straight away.”

Before long, Oslo started his new life with the family in July last year and Steven spent time with the instructor to get the dog to trust him, how to use the right commands for the task-work and recognise his welfare needs.

Steven said: “We’ve noticed that Emily’s speech has really come on. She will say ‘Oslo’, ‘hug’ and ‘doggy’ now as well as sentences such as ‘take Oslo for a walk’.

"In addition, she wasn’t ever great at getting up but now, we send Oslo into her bedroom in the morning armed with sniffs and licks and all we hear is Emily giggling – obviously a far better way for her to start the day.”

Oslo, now two years old, provides motivation and distraction for Emily and that means that she will now even tolerate wearing slip-on shoes and putting on a coat because she knows it means going for a walk.

Steven said: “After a few small walks, she’s happy now to hold onto Oslo’s harness and go for a walk with us to the local shops to get an ice cream.

"She’s really happy being with him and the other day, she even sat down beside him to give him a cuddle.

"For a non-cuddly child, that’s a big thing and a clear demonstration of her bond with him.”

Best of all, because of Oslo’s calming presence, the family are now able to go on outings and on holiday together.

Steven said: “We recently went to the Sea Life Centre at Birmingham which was lots of fun and we all had a great time.

"We also went to Hunstanton beach and on the way back, stopped off for a coffee and a break at the services.

"Simple things but things we’d never have been able to do before Oslo came into our lives and provided a positive focus for Emily.”