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Presentation Rationale

Purpose: The purpose of this speech is to persuade my audience that children with autism that own service dogs experience less stress and an increase in their social skills. I want my audience to understand that the lives of autistic children are not lives that they choose and that we all have the responsibility to ensure that the lives of autistic children are as happy as possible so that they can grow to be productive citizens of the American society.  My central idea is changing the current stressful and isolating lifestyles that many autistic children lead into a lifestyle that is as free from stress as possible, as well as facilitates healthy interaction with safe people from all walks of life.

Intended Audience: My ideal audience for this speech would be to address the American government to facilitate and to sponsor the expenses that would be associated to the families who would need to invest in the ownership of service dogs for their children.  The topic would focus on the existing research that service dogs relieve much of the stress that autistic children experience and also increase their social skills.  The topic would also focus on the American government factoring in the expenses in disability plans in order to help defray the costs that would burden the average family with either an autistic child and/or autistic children.

Significance: This topic is important because with the number of women and men that are having children later in life, the numbers of autistic children in American society is growing. Due to this factor of women and men needing to often forgo the birth of their children in order to create a sustainable livelihood for themselves, it is important that children with disabilities are given their basic Amendment freedoms in order to grow into American citizens that will benefit society rather than hurt society.  Moreover, there are better solutions that exist and should be implemented.

I. Introduction

a. Attention-getting opening (AKA Audience hook): Most people love dogs! You see dogs in just about every park in America being walked. However, what is the difference between a traditional dog and a service dog? According to Burrows, Adams & Spiers (2008) a service dog differs from a traditional dog based on the fact that a service dog is trained to help the person that owns that dog with their given disability and/or ailment. Viau, Arsenault-Lapierre, Fecteau, Champagne, Walker & Lupien (2010) go on even further and discovered through their research that service dogs can even help autistic children to learn, to be better in school, relieve their stress and to increase their social skills.

b. Thesis statement: Research suggests that the American government should focus on improving the lives of their citizens that have disabilities and some of our most vulnerable citizens that need the support, the financial support and commitment to the development of the future of this nation are our autistic children. Why is this important? It is important because there are currently 3.5 million Americans living with autism and this number will continue to grow with the increase of men and women who are having children later in life (Hultman, Sparén & Cnattingius, 2002).

c.      Preview of Main points:

i. Current practices of relieving the stress and increasing the social interaction of autistic children are proving ineffective.

ii. Community-based education programs, government funding and school support will help to have service dogs that are owned by autistic children and their families to improve the lives of autistic children.

II. Main Point 1: Current practices of psychiatric treatment and educational instruction of relieving the stress and increasing the social skills of autistic children is proving ineffective (Baker-Ericzén, Brookman-Frazee & Stahmer, 2005).

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Figure 1: Social Skill Visuals for Autistic Children Shown in School

a. Methods of helping children with autism increase their social skills and lessen their anxiety (Burrows, Adams & Spiers, 2008).

i. Anxiety and anger is often displayed in autistic children when they feel particularly isolated (Burrows, Adams & Spiers, 2008).

ii. As of 2014 and according to the Heritage Foundation, the American government was spending half of all federal funding on healthcare, mainly on Medicaid and Medicare (Heritage Foundation, 2014). Why was not any of this money being used to fund service dogs for autistic children when the research proves that it helps?

b. Another cause is that autistic children have different needs than children that do not have autism and/or do not have a disability (Viau, Arsenault-Lapierre, Fecteau, Champagne, Walker & Lupien, 2010).

III. Conclusion

c. Restatement of thesis: Research suggests that the American government should focus on improving the lives of their citizens that have disabilities and some of our most vulnerable citizens that need the support, the financial support and commitment to the development of the future of this nation are our autistic children. Why is this important? It is important because there are currently 3.5 million Americans living with autism and this number will continue to grow with the increase of men and women who are having children later in life (Hultman, Sparén & Cnattingius, 2002).

a. Summary of main points:

i. Current practices of relieving the stress and increasing the social interaction of autistic children are proving ineffective.

ii. Community-based education programs, government funding and school support will help to have service dogs that are owned by autistic children and their families to improve the lives of autistic children.

b. Closing comments:

i. We have an opportunity for governments to shift their focus from disability to ability for the precious lives of autistic children all over America.

ii. The American government, the schools and our communities need to play a vital role in creating a strong network that will help better the lives of our autistic children. They are all our children. They are our future too!

iii. Give 3.5 million Americans a better chance in life!

Visual Aid

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Scripted Audience Questions

Question #1: Why would people want to fund service dogs for autistic children?

Answer: People with autism are taxpayers too that also fund the American economy. There are 3.5 million of them living in America (Hultman, Sparén & Cnattingius, 2002)..

Question #2: Since service dogs are expensive, is there not another alternative that would still work that would less expensive?

Answer: Although service dogs are expensive, they are still an economical choice – as well as an effective choice that works (Hultman, Sparén & Cnattingius, 2002)..

uestion #3: Are there any organizations that are currently working toward measures like this?

Answer: One of the organizations that is well known is Caines for Kids. Another one is Paws for Autism and there is also the MIRA Foundation for Autistic Kids.

References

Baker-Ericzén, M. J., Brookman-Frazee, L., & Stahmer, A. (2005). Stress levels and adaptability in parents of toddlers with and without autism spectrum disorders. Research and practice for persons with severe disabilities, 30(4), 194-204.

Burrows, K. E., Adams, C. L., & Spiers, J. (2008). Sentinels of safety: Service dogs ensure safety and enhance freedom and well-being for families with autistic children. Qualitative Health Research, 18(12), 1642-1649.

Heritage Foundation. (2014). Federal Spending by the Number, Heritage Foundation. Washington, DC: Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from:

Hultman, C. M., Sparén, P., & Cnattingius, S. (2002). Perinatal risk factors for infantile autism. Epidemiology, 13(4), 417-423.

Viau, R., Arsenault-Lapierre, G., Fecteau, S., Champagne, N., Walker, C. D., & Lupien, S. (2010). Effect of service dogs on salivary cortisol secretion in autistic children. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35(8), 1187-1193.

Figures

Figure 1: Social Skill Visuals for Autistic Children Shown in School. Retrieved from: :

Figure 2: Estimated Lifetime Prevalence of Children Aged 3-17 years with parent-reported developmental disability, by survey year, United States, 2011-2013 and 2014

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