Rory, a service dog, stepped out at the Presidential Inauguration on Tuesday to represent children diagnosed with autism. She appeared with Patty Gross, director of North Star Foundation. (Photo Courtesy of Patty Gross)
1.8 million people were reported to witness the inauguration of President Barack Obama on Tuesday, but at least one service dog, Rory, also made an appearance at the event. The Golden Retriever traveled to D.C. from Connecticut on behalf of children with autism.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thrown into the jumble of 1.8 million people who braved the cold and crowds to witness President Barack Obama’s inauguration, it would have been easy to miss her.
Rory the Golden Retriever is, after all, low to the ground, and no match for the throngs of Americans who huddled together on Washington, D.C.’s mall Tuesday morning.
Yet the 1-year-old dog tried her best to assimilate, says owner Patty Gross, and did not become too discouraged when she had to turn back before the swearing-in ceremony commenced.
It’s a fitting metaphor, Gross says, for the autistic children Rory has been trained to assist.
“Autistic children do have a lot of challenges, and they can get overwhelmed with noise and unfamiliar situations,” said Gross, executive director of the North Star Foundation, which places service dogs with children with special needs, and frequently autism. “We wanted to be there to represent those children, to stand as ambassadors for autism.”
Gross and her son, Danny, 22, set out with Rory in the early hours of Jan. 20, traveling from Connecticut on a coach bus. They reached D.C. by 6:30 a.m., and collected their tickets to the swearing-in ceremony, compliments of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
Securing tickets was the easiest part of the process, Gross soon realized.
“We walked for hours,” she said. “Just waiting in line, going through that slow shuffle. The crowd just got more and more intense.”
Gross had to carry the 50-pound dog up an escalator, which, along with the subway, was intimidating for the Rory.
“All she did [on the subway] was curl up into a little ball and close her eyes,” Gross said. “She was good, I reassured her and spoke gently to her.”
Other than that, Rory experienced no other major mishaps throughout the morning, Gross said.
“She was a real happy camper,” Gross said of the dog. “Her tail was up and wagging, and she really picked up on the mood. The crowds didn’t affect her, which really was incredible, when you know things about dogs.”
By 10 a.m., the Gross family and Rory reached the line — or mass mob — designated for them and other “silver” ticket holders. Rory wasn’t complaining, but after a while, Gross decided the scene could become dangerous, especially for someone so low to the ground.
“The crowd started closing in and we became concerned,” she said. “We wanted to come down here for a new day, but we didn’t know that the dawning of this new day would be so cold and crowded.”
“Isn’t that life? Fantasy meets reality.”
The family turned back and entirely missed the ceremony, as well as Obama’s inaugural speech. Yet Gross says that they accomplished their mission nonetheless, of campaigning for children with autism, and advertising dog-therapy as a unique, effective form of treatment.
It’s a method Gross says she has seen help in countless occasions, including in the early 1990s, when she placed a dog, Madison, with then 4-year-old Danny, who had been diagnosed with autism.
Autism was barely understood then, Gross says, adding that some researchers unfairly placed the blame on parents.
“People believed autism was caused by mothers being so cold — refrigerator mothers, they called them,” she said. “Then a pediatrician thought his problems came because I was too warm.”
“There was no real information on it at that time and I had to find my own way.”
Madison helped Danny “immediately,” Gross said.
“He would have some tough moments and he would come home and Madison would always be there,” she said.
Her son, now a college senior, no longer has a need for a service dog, but the nearly 100 children North Star has worked with still do, Gross says.
The dogs can be trained to stand by while children have tantrums or epileptic fits, or to watch over them in case they try to wander off or get into mischief.
More often, however, the dogs simply stand in as the friends the children crave. They also offer a means for the children to find common ground with strangers or new friends.
“It offers the child with the dog a connection to society,” Gross said. “The dog being there can draw people in, giving the child a potential speech therapy session or just a lesson on life in America. The dog is the one that allows that to happen.”
“They allow the children to stay focused, stay strong enough to be out in public, but then also relaxes the people around them to come up to the child, who really does want to share and be included, too.”
Rory will soon be placed with a child in New Hampshire, Gross said, despite her temptation to keep the “extraordinary” dog for herself and her family.
Though they did not accomplish what they had hoped to in D.C., Gross said that the conversations they had with people about Rory and North Star made the trip worthwhile.
At the end of the day, Gross and Danny waited nearly two hours outside their coach bus for the driver to return. Rory began to shiver and strangers, waiting to board the bus as well, instantly took off layers of clothing to wrap around the dog.
“People were so generous and kind,” Gross said. “It was really exceptional.”
Source:Zootoo
