The Autism Life Dogs Team are as passionate about dogs as they are about changing the lives of children with additional needs, that passion for making families lives more accessible has led them to form a partnership with The Access Card.

The award-winning, non-profit provides assistance dogs for children with autism and related developmental difficulties.

The Autism Life Dogs team come from a background of therapy and education specialising in ASD and related intellectual developmental disabilities, all of the team are qualified Animal-Assisted Therapy Practitioners and have bespoke Autism Assistance Dog training.

The team have spent years training and supporting families to improve day to day living with support available to families nationwide.

Having an autism assistance dog can have a significantly positive effect on the whole family providing a common love and bond for all of the family to enjoy the playful interaction with each other and able to more easily access the community, this fundamental approach to improving accessibility is why working alongside the Access Card is so important.

Danielle Brook, Director and founder of Autism Life Dogs said:

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with a fellow non-profit organisation who share our goals to improve accessibility for those with additional needs.  

“Our joint working will enable us to more positively impact change and we look forward to a long-standing and successful partnership with the Access Card”.

What is the Access Card?

The Access Card started as a grassroots user led organisation too, from day one our aim has been to improve the lives of disabled people by working with some of the biggest names in the live music and entertainment industry.

The card translates a disabled person’s needs (and therefore the reasonable adjustments they need) into symbols There is a range of symbols on the card one of which is especially for those who need to have an assistance dog with them.

Our dedicated team are striving to help make access easier for anybody living with a disability which is why it is so important for us to work closely with organisations that help offer support to disabled people, it’s how we started our business and how we continue to grow by working with such great organisations like Autism Life Dogs.

J.Peacock, a service user of Autism Life Dogs and mum to a new Access Card Holder said:

“It’s so helpful to have a single card; to not have to take important paperwork with us.

It’s so frustrating to take all those bits of paper with us, so with this card it’s going to be so much easier and hopefully it will make people more aware of the need to make accessibility easier across the board.”

Martin Austin, Managing Director of Nimbus Disability, the company behind the Access Card said:

“Having our origins in a local user led organisation means we place a massive amount of importance on relationships with other groups.

“Whenever you’re looking at tackling big social issues there’s a strength in numbers.

“At the end of the day we all have the same goal which is around promoting equality, independence, choice and control”

The Access Card is offering the card FREE to new Autism Life Dog applicants and at a special rate of £10 for existing members.

ALD members can get their offer code by contacting the ALDteam today!

To find out more about the Autism Life Dogs, visit their listing at https://www.accesscard.org.uk/providers/autism-dogs-for-life/