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The Golden Bridge: A Guide to Assistance Dogs for Children Challenged By Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities (New Discoveries in the Human-Animal Bond S.) |  | Author: Patty Dobbs Gross
Publisher: Purdue University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $15.62
as of 11/23/2009 14:50 MST details
You Save: $9.33 (37%)
New (19) Used (14) from $14.24
Seller: bumblebeebooks16
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 151081
Media: Paperback
Pages: 180
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 155753408X
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.4083
EAN: 9781557534088
ASIN: 155753408X
Publication Date: August 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In The Golden Bridge, Patty Dobbs Gross provides both personal and professional advice on how specially bred and trained dogs help to facilitate communication for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. This important information compendium is a guide for parents dealing with the social, emotional, and educational issues related to raising children with challenges. Myths and labels concerning autism are explored,examined, and redefined. While focused on children, the advice that Gross shares will be immensely helpful for anyone involved in breeding, raising,and training dogs to mitigate any type of disability at any age. The Golden Bridge provides advice about living with autism, animal-assisted therapy and autism, training an assistance dog to work with a child with autism or a developmental disability, and using an assistance dog to deal with a child's grief. This impressive volume also contains a vast list of resources, including Web sites, for follow-up information, a section on books about autism, and a directory of assistance dog providers.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
 Dogmatic August 27, 2009
Steve Wilson (Boston, MA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just finished the book and thought I would share my impressions while fresh. I very much enjoyed the author's personal stories about raising her son who is on the autism spectrum and how he developed and progressed through the years, in part due to the relationship with his service dog. The chapters describing the training and breeding of assistance dogs were also very informative, both from the author's experience as a trainer, and from the advice given by several contributing specialists in the second half of the book.
Less appealing aspects of the book included the over promotion of the author's NPO `North Star' which breeds and trains assistance dogs. So frequent was the name cited that I felt like I was reading the script from an infomercial. Along with tireless promotion of North Star comes the single minded advice that the one and only solution for an assistance dog is a pure bred Golden Retriever (only) that is well bred (North Star), well tempered (North Star), and well trained (North Star). I also found the text to be a bit flowery for my taste, and at times found it so over saturated with unnecessary metaphors and similes that it smothered the passage (like a load of jagged rock crashing down on a fragile candle).
Overall I did find this to be a useful book, particularly since our family is in the market for a dog, and we hope that it can be a good companion for our young son who is on the spectrum. Based on this reading though, I am not convinced we really need one of the elite assistance dogs described in the Golden Bridge, so we have adjusted our search toward a more ordinary family pet.
A Very Inspiring Read - Required Reading For Any Parent Considering a Dog March 22, 2009
Kimberly Agostino (Boston, MA)
This book is one of the best written in regards to both educating yourself about acquiring a pet for your children and also a bonus to us parents of children on the Autism Spectrum - the author speaks from her own experiences (of which I relate to so much I feel as if I know her) and opens her heart and mind about inspiring and visionary life. We are a family considering a Golden Retriever to become our three year old's son's "best friend" and a part of our family and this book has been a wealth of information on the subject. I highly recommend this book to any family considering a pet and especially to a family who has a child with developmental or learning problems. I can't wait to read this author's next book! Enjoy!
Dogs connect straight to the HEART August 28, 2008
Samantha (Alabama)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
THE GOLDEN BRIDGE is a wonderful book about working with dogs with special needs children with a primary focus on children with developmental disorders and particularly children with autism. Patti Dobbs, along with other guest writers, have a child with autism. They generously bring you into their lives to share the pain and the joys of having a child that is "different". They all explain the isolation from other families and the beautiful effects that a dog can have in healing.
There is compelling information about the significant benefits of dogs in the lives of families with special needs and children in classrooms, as well as instructions on training or finding dogs to be a part of families or therapy sessions. Excellent!
The Golden Bridge: A guide to assistance dogs for children challenged by autism or other developmental disabilities June 25, 2008
Patricia T. Aiken (new hampshire)
An absolutely wonderful book even if you aren't interested in pursuing an assistance dog it is a must read. The authors ability to share not only her family's experience but others as well is deeply touching. I found it informative, educational and heartwarming.
Inspiration for Families with Children with Developmental Challenges March 16, 2008
Happy Accidents (CT)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Patty Dobbs Gross presents an inspirational story of her personal struggle and triumphs as she tries to find the best resources for her son with autism, one of which is a service dog. Patty is honest and direct as she explains her feelings of isolation, frustration, and sometimes even anger and embarrassment with friends, the school system and Danny's peer group. Later chapters in the book focus on training and incorporating service dogs into the lives of children with developmental disabilities. These chapters are contributed by experts in their fields and should act as a model for any service dog organization.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
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