(06-11-2012, 06:53 PM)Tuttleturtle Wrote: There are quite a few things dogs can do that don't have to do with physical disabilities. I'm just having issues with identifying what things could help me, and am trying to find a larger list because of having difficulty with coming up with ideas. If it helps with ideas, some things dogs do for others include: stop them from walking out into oncoming traffic, alert to specific important noises to deal with discrimination issues, wake them up because any usable alarm clock is so overloading it leads to an immediate meltdown (in many cases swapping alarm clocks is enough, but not always), and so on. I just need more ideas.

I'm having a hard time understanding the link between SPD and walking into traffic. What particular "sense" of the sensory processing issues gives rise that situation?

Also, as I suspect you already know, there are many forms of alarm clocks that don't rely on sound. Some use light or heat.

(06-11-2012, 06:53 PM)Tuttleturtle Wrote: It happens that I deal with more than SPD, so this is not the only things I'd have to go off of (or would need help with), but because people told me they'd help me if I decided to go in that direction, I'm trying to come up with as many ideas as I can now for potential tasks, and that includes for my SPD.

There are many tasks that service animals can be trained to do, but I'm just not seeing a "task" that the dog could be trained to do for SPD.

(06-11-2012, 06:53 PM)Tuttleturtle Wrote: Also, that legal difference between service animal and emotional support animal isn't new at all. The limiting service animals to only being dogs is though, which is likely what ended up having that effect for you. A lot of people actually completely overlook what a service animal does, which can be quite problematic for people who really need those tasks. However, if you're in the US and looking at air flight, Emotional Support Animals still have those rights, it just needs to be documented as an ESA (meaning doctors notes and such). My cat is an ESA .

The decision to define a service animal as only dogs had a huge effect in reducing where we could take my son's cat: hotels have to allow service animals, but not emotional support animals. It doesn't do much good to be able to take the cat on a plane if he can't have it with him in a hotel. At home, the cat is by his side night and day, usually at least 18 hours out of 24, and the cat gets a big share of the credit for his progress over the past 12 months.