Assistance Animal Applications

Cornwall House OT offers Assistance Dog Assessments all across Australia.

Tilly has been supporting people with disabilities and their involvement with animals for over 18 years. For the last 8 years Tilly has been focused on completing Assistance Animal Applications for people with disabilities. This includes working hands on, training assistance dogs for people with disabilities through the WA Assistance and Therapy Dogs Organisation, and working with a number of trainers and handlers across Australia. This hands on experience lends a depth to the assessment process rarely found, where you can discuss the challenges of training, managing social interactions, manage access requests/refusals from someone who has experienced them first-hand. Over the years, Tilly has had multiple successes in applying for funding for Assistance Dogs, including for those who do not currently have a dog, and those who do. 

Outside of this Tilly has worked in a number of areas in her role as an OT including paediatrics, early intervention, neurological rehabilitation, complex behaviour presentations, complex and multiple disability presentations and individuals with mental health conditions. 

Tilly also runs professional development training for other OT's to improve the quality of this service across Australia, and increase the number of OT's who are able to aid current and prospective Assistance Animal teams. 

So if you or someone you support is interested in Assistance Animals feel free to contact Cornwall House OT Services. We offer a customised service which is tailored to suit each persons needs. If you are not sure where to start, looking to find the right fit OT, or general guidance to start your journey well we can do a 1hour 'Pre-Meeting' in which you can ask all your questions without the obligation of assigning hours for a full assessment. 

If you feel you are ready to complete the assessment and application we usually set aside 10-15hours (total). This includes an initial 2hours consultation (broken up over small sessions if needed), report writing time and any additional services required such as liaising with your team and trainers. 

Just like you would refer out for a specific assessment for home modification, our Assistance Dog Assessments work the same way. You can keep your regular therapy team and we will work alongside them to support your application to be the strongest it can be.

So reach out to our friendly administrative team if you have any questions.