Service dogs helping children with autism

Karen Meyer, who covers disability issues for ABC News 7 in Chicago, reports on the growing use of service dogs for children who have autism.

She told the story of Zachary Woosley, 5, who has limited verbal skills due to autism, and has been using his chocolate lab service dog, Gemini, for about a year. Zachary has been so helped by having Gemini that he will be with Zachary full time and will accompany him to kindergarten this fall.

"We began to realize that he was just attending to what we were doing so much better when she was around or when he was tethered to her. So, as that started happening more and more we went to school and said hey, this is helping, you guys think this will help him at school," said his mother Christine Woosley.

Gemini, who is from 4 Paws for Ability, has an additional skill past being an autism assistance dog. She is trained with scent tracking abilities.

"If Zachary does run away or gets lost in some way, Gemini's able to track him and she can do scent tracking to find him," Woosley said.

Autism Service Dogs of America, based in Oregon, also trains service dogs for kids with autism. It says, "the placement of a dog with the child enables the child and family to increase their mobility and socialization as a family, and the child individually. In most cases the dog accompanies the child at all times when the child leaves home. The dog goes to school with the child and the presence of the dog calms the child, reduces emotional outbursts and serves as a positive social link for the child to their home, school and community."