This past year North Star was featured in Autism Spectrum Quarterly; you can find this well respected journal to order at www.asquarterly.com.  Several scientific studies are currently being conducted on assistance dogs with children on the autism spectrum, with the initial results overwhelmingly positive regarding the benefits of North Star placements to help children with autism or related developmental disorders socially, emotionally and educationally.  Please contact Patty at northstarfoundation@charter.net to receive a link to this research.

This spring we partnered our 100th puppy with a North Star child, with a goal of having all our pups currently in training receive their full public access certification from us by the anniversary of our tenth year of our incorporation.  Our placements have been created in all four corners of the United States, with our first placement “across the pond” happening this spring when North Star collaborates with Dogs for the Disabled to complete the training of a North Star dog named Eddie to work with a young English boy with autism named Jesse. 

Recently a North Star dog named Flash was incorporated into his child’s IEP to help his child, Justin, to achieve his educational goals within his school day.  Flash has been instrumental in helping Justin to achieve these goals in a measurable way in both the lunchroom as well as the classroom, and we are very grateful to Justin’s school for allowing Flash to be used as a tool to help him accomplish his speech goals, along with other gains Justin has made with his canine partner during this school year.

If you would like to learn more about our philosophy of placement at North Star, you can purchase THE GOLDEN BRIDGE: A Guide to Assistance Dogs for Children Challenged by Autism or Other Developmental Disorders, which is available to order from Purdue University Press (www.thepress.purdue.edu) or Amazon.com, with all proceeds from the book’s sale being donated to support North Star’s nonprofit work.  If you would like to see some North Star dogs working with their children, please visit the website www.youtube.com/profile?user=northstarvids

We take pride in the positive effect our placements have on the children we serve, but we also recognize that with additional financial support we could help many more children.  We have an exceptional breeding program, devoted puppy raisers, dedicated volunteers and professional trainers that provide the strong foundation for North Star’s future.  Our primary constraint is the necessary funding required to expand our successful programs to support the growing number of families that are impacted by autism and other developmental disabilities around the country.  With more funding we can serve the increasing population of children diagnosed with autism or related disorders. 

Donations to North Star are considered tax deductible, as we are a nonprofit organization (EIN # 06-1589586).  Please make your check or money order out to North Star Foundation, and send it to the following address; you can also use the Pay Pal feature on the homepage of our website at www.NorthStarDogs.com to make your kind donation.

I thank you in advance for any help you offer us, and we in turn we are ready to offer help to children who face challenges, striving to be as constant a source of light and direction for them as the real North Star.

Sincerely,

For more information about North Star’s work you can visit our website at www.NorthStarDogs.com.

As always, I thank you for your kind support!

Warm regards,

Please help support the North Star Foundation and donate now!