Coco the dog gives vital support to four-year-old Yian

Thanks to a grant from the RAF Benevolent Fund, autistic Yian now has support from specially trained assistance dog Coco.

Yian, whose mum Sgt Gemma Luxton is an RAF medic based at Defence Medical Services, has had to wait longer than usual for Coco's arrival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now he is completing his training at home with the family.

The outbreak meant that instead of travelling to the centre where Coco was receiving training from Autism Dogs Community Interest Company, the family were able to complete training in their own home environment, meaning Yian has had even more essential bonding time with Coco.

Gemma Luxton said: "I had been looking into autism assistance dogs for some time but didn't know where to start. I reached out to Caroline at the Hive in Lichfield, who referred me to Sharon, a SSAFA caseworker at RAF Leeming. She provided me with all the information I needed and supported us throughout the process."

"With the assistance dog, you would usually go to the farm they are trained on and have 1-2-1 training sessions with them on site. However, due to COVID-19, our dog, Coco, came to us straight away and we received 1-2-1 training with the specialist trainers in our own home."

"Yian is the youngest child to be accepted on the scheme. We were just in time before the application programme was closed due to COVID-19. We were lucky to be accepted and we're so excited to have Coco in our family."

Yian was officially diagnosed with autism in May this year, but Gemma began to notice changes in his behaviour in April 2018, such as him being unable to communicate or connect with others. Gemma hopes that the animal-loving youngster will benefit from having 18-month-old chocolate Labrador, Coco, in their family.

Gemma added: "Yian finds it difficult to make connections with other people but seems to have an affinity with animals. We are hoping that Coco will be a best friend for him. If he gets overcome or compulsive, Coco can take charge of the situation through nuzzling and licking Yian to calm and comfort him."

Coco will support Yian in several ways, including deep pressure therapy, to calm Yian down and help him settle, and anti-bolting, which will mean Coco will drop to the floor when Yian tries to run away.

Gemma concluded: "We feel very lucky. It went from nothing happening to nearly having Coco so quickly. The COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown has been beneficial for us in terms of receiving Coco – the whole process was altered and fast tracked to ensure we received Coco for Yian as quickly as possible. The teams have been working non-stop and we can't thank the charities enough for everything they have done for us."