Also note that
Psychiatric Service Dogs, a specific type of Service Dog that assists people
with psychiatric disabilities, are not the same as Emotional Support Animals.
Service dogs are
also trained to help people
with psychiatric disabilities such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, autism, and post traumatic stress disorder.
Intellectual
disability (ID) affects 143/10 000 children1 and is associated
with a range of comorbid health conditions.2 — 4 It is heterogeneous, 5 and clustering of some medical conditions may be associated
with particular disorders such as Down syndrome6 or Prader - Willi syndrome.7 While epilepsy and sensory impairments often occur in association
with specific syndromes or more severe cognitive impairment, conditions such as fractures or obesity may develop as secondary to medication use, nutritional deficiency or lack of mobility.2 Consequently, children
with ID may face greater health challenges than typically developing children and use healthcare systems more frequently.8, 9 Mental health problems are
also common in people
with ID.10 For instance, in a Canadian adolescent and adult population
with ID, a high proportion of hospitalisations was attributed to the presence of
psychiatric conditions.11