A MOTHER has embarked on a fundraising campaign to provide her five-year-old son with a service dog.
Nicola Dixon is trying to raise £5,000 to cover the cost of training the animal to help her son Theo Richardson, who has autism.
Theo, who attends Dovers Green School, in Rushetts Road, Reigate, was diagnosed with autism in 2012 when he was three.
Mrs Dixon hopes the animal will help the youngster with some of the problems he faces, including delayed development and sensory processing disorder.
Mrs Dixon, 33, of Larch Close, Redhill, said: "He loves animals, absolutely loves them.
"If he hurts himself he just screams for the cat straightaway, but you can't train a cat.
"I just think it is the best therapy there is."
Children and adults who have autism often find it difficult to interpret social cues, such as facial expressions, which can make social interaction difficult.
Mrs Dixon hopes the service dog will help Theo communicate with others: "It's companionship, because they find it hard to read other people and I think Theo wants to be social and he could just come out of himself a bit more with it.
"For whatever reason, he just finds animals very calming and soothing.
"I think it's good that instead of being the boy with autism he can be the boy with the dog, and I think it is nice for people to talk to him.
"It is a bridge to communication and a common ground that people can talk to him about."
The money Mrs Dixon raises will go directly to Service Dogs Europe, a charity based in Ireland which aims to aid children and adults affected with disabilities through a partnership with trained dogs.
It takes between two and six months to train, certify and place a dog with a family.
The £5,000 cost covers training, vaccinations and service dog certification.
To help Theo go to www.mycharity.ie/event/theosdog/
