Autism and a Dog

I found this great story about how a girl with Autism and a dog can live a great life together and help each other. I hope you find it inspiring. The rest of the article is over at the Chicago Tribune

Joy and Goldie - Great Friends

Joy is an 18-year-old high school senior from Oklahoma who was diagnosed with autism as a 7-year-old. Goldie is her closest friend, a 9-year-old basenji mix who at one point was in a high-kill shelter, on the verge of being euthanized, and who has become a certified therapy and service dog. More, though, she has become the love of Joy's life.

"The way their relationship evolved was better than anyone could have dreamed of," says Liz Newton, president of Basenji Rescue and Transport, a national organization that saves some 300 basenjis a year.

Joy and Goldie are in Rosemont this weekend for the 9th annual BRAT convention, where Joy led an hourlong family presentation Friday. This is the same Joy who, as a child, didn't communicate much verbally, whose condition baffled the experts for years until her autism was diagnosed, and whose episodes of anxiety precluded her family from doing typical family things, such as taking a vacation.

Now she speaks publicly about autism, reads to kids in libraries, visits seniors in nursing homes, takes Advanced Placement classes and drivers ed, travels and is planning on going to college. Last week she -- and Goldie -- went to see "Kung Fu Panda 2."

The reason for this transformation? Goldie.

"She has been everywhere with us; she has done everything," Joy told her audience at the convention. "All she needs is to be on YouTube and we'll conquer the world."

Don't laugh.

"Goldie seems to be the on-ramp to a lot of different things," says Joy's mother, Melinda.

If you know basenjis, you realize how all the more remarkable this is. If you don't know them, a little background is in order: Basenjis are one of the oldest domesticated breeds, originating in Central Africa where they were hunting dogs. Small, powerful and energetic, they can be aloof and stubborn, with minds of their own. An endearing trait is that they don't bark in the common sense, instead employing a unique yodel-like "bar-ooo" vocalization. They're also a handful, generally. As a Dog World magazine article put it several years ago: "Modern basenjis are living antiquities that will make your home their jungle, your furniture their monkey bars, and every walk a safari."

Perfect for an autistic child, right?

"(Goldie's arrival) helped her learn how to express herself," says Newton, who works at a Downstate school for profoundly handicapped children. "Joy was reluctant to speak. Goldie would accept whatever she said. That became very comforting for her."

BRAT is an all-volunteer, 14-year-old organization that rescues basenjis and basenji mixes from bad situations – high-kill shelters, unfit or relinquishing owners, puppy mills and the like -- and gets them into new homes. (To find out more about the breed and to see some of the dogs currently needing homes, go to basenjirescue.org). The group just took in 16 dogs from a Pennsylvania breeder who had to give them up because of a new state law.