By Jennifer Reed
The Drake Center and Good Dog! Autism Companions are excited to announce the very special homecoming of Good Dog! Drake!
Drake has been working with her trainer, Sam, in Oklahoma since she was just 8 weeks old. Now, after nearly a year of service training, she is ready to make the journey to San Diego, where she will dedicate her life to helping children with autism at the Comprehensive Autism Center (CAC) in Oceanside.
CAC has been working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families throughout San Diego, Camp Pendleton and Riverside for the past six years. Based on the overwhelming positive feedback from families in Camp Pendleton and a passion for the military community as a whole, CAC opened the one-of-a-kind applied behavior analysis (ABA) facility in January 2014.
Drake will live and work with CAC’s regional director, Susie Jordan. Susie will be responsible for Drake’s care, facilitation of her daily duties and maintaining her mastered skill set. Meanwhile, The Drake Center will provide her veterinary care for life.
Susie has worked in the field of ABA for nearly 20 years. While working with a client in the school district, she was able to experience the positive effects of canine companionship on a child with autism and is very excited to bring these same results to her own practice. Susie, her husband, Chris, and twin daughters, Perri and Jules, are also ecstatic to have Drake as part of their family.
As a facility dog at CAC, Drake will help children with autism spectrum disorders to master specific targets in learning social behavior, decrease social stressors and provide motivation to participate in social play.
As an ABA facility, CAC is based on the principles of learning. This innovative program incorporates teaching skills across all domains, including focusing on reducing maladaptive behaviors while increasing language, play, socialization and adaptive living skills. Drake will reinforce these principles by participating in one-on-one sessions, community outings, circle time and a new social skills group.
In addition, CAC has recently partnered with the Florida Institute of Technology, the world’s leading behavior certified behavior analyst (BCBA) program, and has become a practicum site for the Master’s ABA program. Several of CAC’s current graduate students will become trained on how to work with Drake and utilize her in one-on-one therapy sessions.
Drake will arrive in San Diego and begin living and training with Susie full-time in August. She will officially begin her work at CAC August 18.
A note from Susie:
“We are so excited to welcome Drake to San Diego and the CAC family! I know she will help our children achieve meaningful, life-changing results and I cannot wait to witness the daily impact she will have on our families.
At CAC, we strive to make our center a fun, safe environment where children can learn, play and socialize with peers and we are proud to have Drake join our family to provide an opportunity for unparalleled canine companionship. We are excited to see her inspire social development, confidence and foster an even more compelling feeling of joy in our center. We are confident that the extensive opportunities for Drake’s participation will benefit and support the development of everyone in the center. We are all eagerly awaiting her arrival and the impact she will have on so many lives.
Lastly, CAC would like to send a big thank you to The Drake Center, Good Dog! Autism Companions and Drake’s trainer, Sam. This team of amazing people has worked long and hard to make a positive impact on the local autism community. They are providing a wonderful service for our facility and we are all very thankful to have them.”