North Star's Newsletter

April 2010

This is North Star's quarterly newsletter, in the spring of our tenth year of incorporation...

It has been a tremendous journey to have served over 100 children who face challenges this past decade, and I am happy to report that our ten year review of our placements in progress is now underway, with prelimnary results extremely positive. The vast majority of the children we are serving have made great strides in their social, emotional and educational goals, although companionship and that elusive happiness factor is perhaps the biggest area of accomplishment here. This is as it should be, for if there is one thing I believe our society should keep in mind as we struggle to understand the enduring mystery of autism and developmental differences, it is that children should always be considered children first and foremost...no childhood should ever be sacrificed on the altar of early intervention.

In addition to making an important difference in the lives of the children we have served, I believe North Star's next biggest accomplishment has been the development of our top notch breeding program. Despite North Star's relatively small size, we have a quality breeding program based on sound science and Irish intuition second to none. In the beginning, over 15 years ago, I created North Star's breeding program based on such unscientific things such as selecting the pup to carry on our genetic line based on which pup ignored the pan of food I set down to instead follow me with their eyes, begging to be picked up; or the pup that would gravitate to the children with autism that visit us at North Star; or the pup that had that x factor as mysterious as autism itself. Now, all these years later, with some cutting edge research in the field of canine behavioral genetics, I know I am selecting my breeding pups on the ability to read social cues.

Here's an example of what I am breeding for, as demonstrated by a fourth generation golden pup I bred and raised last summer: this pup, just 7 weeks old at the time, was being introduced to a child with autism that was visiting us at North Star. The boy, as is fairly typical for children on the spectrum, was a bit conflicted; he was intrigued by this pup, but also a bit frightened...he alternately sent "come hither" signals to the pup followed quickly by "stay put" ones when the puppy approached...this puppy ended up laying down and stretching out, which is remarkable enough...but then he decided to commando crawl toward the child, which is an amazingly intelligent and intuitive response to the child's mixed emotions...none of this pup's behavior was a result of traditional training, but was actually a triumph of being a fourth generation in a golden line created with this type of job description uppermost in mind (from the beginning, and continuing to this day, we "begin with the end in mind" in our work at North Star.) Positive reinforcement does come into to play, for this pup was handsomely rewarded for this intelligent response to this child, and this ensured that this pup would develop this gift (as indeed he has done; he is now working very successfully and intuitively with a child with autism in Pennsylvania.)

We have made North Star placements all over the world in our decade of incorporation, going as far away as New Zealand to not only place a North Star dog with a child who needed her for his tendency to wander, but also to spread education about autism's new day...I've been in this field for over 20 years and have seen cures come and go and be repackaged to come again at a steeper price, but in my eyes autism is not a disease so there is no cure...only understanding that children on the autism spectrum communicate differently and have gifts that are perhaps more difficult to open, but no less valuable for this inconvenience.

Here's where I get to indulge in a bit of a brag, which I trust I will be forgiven for; my own son, Danny, now age 23 and on the autism spectrum, is now attending graduate school at USC's School of Cineamatic Arts, earning his MFA with a concentration in film editing. The assistance dog Danny grew up with, Madison, does not get the lion's share of credit for Danny's good development, (this nod goes to early and appropriate education), but Madison was an extremely valuable tool to help Danny achieve his goals. To explain why would take a book to explore, and in fact, this book has been written (THE GOLDEN BRIDGE: A Guide to Assistance Dogs for Children Challenged by Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities, Purdue University Press, July 2006; to order it best price you can simply type my name, Patty Dobbs Gross, into their search engine at www.amazon.com.) Danny and I have also collaborated to produce several DVDs about our work with children with autism at North Star and these are available to you upon request, free of charge, as education is a very important part of our mission. Please write to me at northstarfoundation@charter.net to request a copy of these companion DVDs to THE GOLDEN BRIDGE.

Finally, I will take this opportunity to tell you how much I want to continue this work into our next decade of service, which forces me to talk about the uncomfortable subject of funding, or the lack thereof. It has been a very difficult time for all of us of late financially speaking, and we at North Star have done our share of suffering. But I believe any society is ultimately judged by how well it takes care of it's most vulnerable members, and in my eyes it is hard to get more vulnerable that being born a child on the autism spectrum. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to support our work at North Star (EIN #06-1589586; Conn. Charities Registration #12811); you can either send a check made out to North Star Foundation to my address at 20 Deerfield Lane, Storrs, CT 06268, or take advantage of our convenient and safe Pay Pal feature on our website at http://www.NorthStarDogs.com.

I thank you in advance for your generous support, and I vow to work as hard in the coming decade for the children I love as I did the previous one...together we can continue to help some wonderful and often misunderstood children to find their way, with a well bred and carefully trained canine companion by their side.

Sincerely yours,
Patty

Patty Dobbs Gross
Executive Director
North Star Foundation
20 Deerfield Lane
Storrs, CT 06268
www.NorthStarDogs.com
northstarfoundation@charter.net
"We help children find their way."