22/07/2023
Dear friends,
I introduce to you my great friend Adriana. Who could help, she really deserves It.
I bealive !!
Brazilian woman uses crowdfunding to pay for
international course on assistance dogs
The dog trainer was diagnosed with autism in 2019 and dreams of helping low-income
autistic people voluntarily training dogs to support them
"I believe that dreams that are dreamed together come true". With this sentence, Adriana, a
50-year-old Brazilian who has been working with canine training for three years, summarizes
her expectations regarding the crowdfunding she launched in June to carry out the training
course for assistance dogs from Atlas Assistance, a non-profit organization expert in the
field.
"Adriana contacted us in June 2022 saying that she wanted to take our course to improve
the level of service dog training in Brazil and, at the same time, help low-income autistic
adults who may have a chance of greater autonomy with the animal. We were excited about
the idea and suggested that she do the crowdfunding, and some of us are personally
contributing so that she actually achieves what she wants", explains Jennifer Kolar, president
of the board of the Organization.
The Atlas course also covers the training of dogs with other roles for people with disabilities,
such as guide dogs, "listening" dogs, support dogs for people with reduced mobility and
medical detection. The psychiatric assistance dog is the main focus of the trainer, who is
also excited to learn about medical detection dogs: “about 30% of non-speaking autistic
people have epilepsy and dogs can help a lot by predicting seizures and taking the person to
a safe place".
Brazil has about 9 million people with disabilities, and 7 out of 10 are out of the job market.
"Many people with disabilities can be supported by an assistance dog, but training is
expensive and the few social projects in the area are aimed at children. I want to be a "Robin
Hood" of the sector, she jokes. "I will charge people who can afford the service, and I will
voluntarily do the service for those who cannot", she says.
The cost of the course is high by Brazilian standards, but the autistic woman believes it will
be very worthwhile. "Many trainers who are working in the area are not trained in fact and
use outdated techniques that can cause pain or suffering to the dog. Atlas, like me, works
with reinforcement based training and fear free training. It is necessary to evolve and I am
betting on a new paradigm shift, concludes Adriana.
To carry out the Atlas program, since her English is intermediate, Adriana will have the
support of Sofia Paiva, who holds a B.A. in English, and a Master's in Latin American
Studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte). Sofia, like
Adriana, changed careers after her autism diagnosis and is studying dog training and
behavior. Atlas accepted Sofia's co-participation as a way to support the future student.
The campaign is on the Fundrazr website because of Atlas contributors, who live in the
United States. For Brazilians, she is also making her personal pix available.
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Launched in the “all or nothing” modality, the crowdfunding runs until August 18th. If the
requested amount is not reached, the money raised so far (around 40% of the requested
amount), goes back to the donors.
Link to contribute:
https://fundrazr.com/dritorres_dogtrainer
More information by whatsapp +5531999511406 or by email [email protected]
Atlas Assistance is a non-profit Organization based in Bellevue/WA, with seven years of
experience in favor of people with disabilities and their assistance dogs. Learn more at:
https://www.atlasdog.org
