DEVOTED parents Jamie and Nuala Gardner struggled to break into their son's autistic world – but when they got a puppy their lives were transformed.

Today their 18-year-old son is a charming and well adjusted young man and his remarkable story has proved an inspiration to many people with autistic children.

It has also made Sheffield-based charity Support Dogs even more determined to provide specially-trained dogs to help children with autism.

The charity has launched an appeal to raise £1million, which will enable it to introduce a unique national dog training scheme for autism assistance dogs.

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It is the first scheme of its kind in the country and, over the next four years, if it reaches its target, the charity will be able to help hundreds of people affected by autism.

The appeal launch coincides with the paperback release of Nuala Gardner's bestselling book A Friend Like Henry, which tells the story of her son's autism and the Golden Retriever puppy which helped the family get the breakthrough they'd long sought.

Dale was still a baby when his parents realised that something wasn't right – a story familiar to many parent whose children have autistic spectrum conditions.

His mum Nuala, a community nurse, took him to see several doctors, before finally hearing the word 'autism' for the first time in a specialist's office.

She was determined that Dale should live a fulfilling life but describes her despair at her son's condition.

"Every waking minute with him was a maelstrom of conflict as we plunged from one violent tantrum to another," explains Nuala, who lives in Scotland and whose son's autism was the subject of After Thomas, a moving ITV drama, starring Keeley Hawes.

"He didn't even know who we were and our efforts to interact with him were deeply frustrating, completely draining and ultimately, it seemed, quite futile."

All that changed when Nuala and Jamie bought Dale a puppy.

"Even at six weeks old Henry stood out from the rest of the litter. We didn't choose him, he chose Dale.

"Whether he was able to sense our wee boy's troubles and feel he could be of assistance I don't know. All I can say is that his beautiful, stoical, saintly nature was the key to unlocking a personality we never knew our son had."

Dale's touching story is mirrored by that of another family, the Craiks.

They also live in Scotland but are the first family to have been partnered with an autism assistance dog trained by Sheffield-based charity Support Dogs.

Paula Craik's son Joe was diagnosed with autism at two-and-a-half. His development was slow and his muscle tone was weak. Whenever Joe visited a supermarket he would tantrum and it would prove impossible to resolve because he couldn't understand or communicate his feelings.

Joe would need to be restrained.
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