Leading the pack: assistance dog team instruction from a universal design perspective

This article examines how disabled assistance dog professionals adapt traditional work practice norms to meet their needs and those of clients and assistance dogs. Based on nine interviews and 16 survey responses collected from disabled assistance dog professionals and their clients across Europe, this article identifies adaptations involving communication, session planning and structure, technology use, and, at times, the involvement of the professional’s assistance dog as their co-worker. Rather than solely compensating for disability, professionals frequently innovate more traditional practices that benefit the assistance dog team, offering potential new ways to approach instruction for the broader assistance dog sector to consider. The article speaks to a significant gap in literature concerning the work of assistance dog professionals with disabilities, and provides data to support a more accessible and inclusive assistance dog sector through universal design.