Autism and neurodivergent support at the Top Tails Institute is delivered within a canine-assisted psychotherapy and structured support framework.

This service is not behavioural compliance training, social skills coaching, or general wellbeing provision.

Therapeutic Focus

• Emotional regulation

• Felt safety

• Predictability and containment

• Reducing overwhelm rather than enforcing performance

Dogs are used to support co-regulation and grounding where clinically appropriate.

Appropriate For

• Autistic and neurodivergent children, adolescents, and adults

• Individuals experiencing anxiety, dysregulation, shutdown, or distress

• Those who benefit from structured, low-arousal therapeutic environments

Not Appropriate For

• Acute or crisis mental health presentations

• Situations where safeguarding risks cannot be managed

• Casual animal interaction or informal support programmes

All access is assessment-led and capacity-limited.