Greg Rutherford on heartwarming connection between his autistic child and family dogs

Greg Rutherford has said it is wonderful to see the connection between his young child, who was recently diagnosed, with autism, and their family dogs.

The London 2012 Olympic gold medallist recently shared that one of his children was diagnosed with autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects an individual’s communication, learning, and behaviour.

In a moving message, Rutherford said the diagnosis “confirmed what we already knew”, adding that “our child is doing really well”.

Rutherford, 37, and his fiancée Susie Verrill have three children – sons Milo, nine, and Rex, six, and two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Daphne – together.

He told the Press Association: “We always knew there were definitely challenges, and we’ve gone through the process this year, and [the diagnosis] just confirmed what we already knew.”

The retired long jumper said that “our child is doing really well” since they were enrolled at a school that is doing a “brilliant job” of supporting their needs.

“[T]he school our child is at is doing a brilliant job, and has support staff there all the time, which is brilliant,” he said, “Our child is doing really well, which is great to see.”

He highlighted that the family’s two dogs have brought their child a sense of calm, with recent research showing animal-assisted therapies can help people with autism manage anxiety, improve the quality of their relationships, and build better communication skills.

Rutherford, who has two dogs – Gus, a 10-year-old Northern Inuit, and Clunkers, a five-month-old whippet puppy – said: “I see the impact they have on our family, especially on our child who’s autistic.

“We’ve found our dogs are a brilliant method of calming and interacting – they always have been. When our child is around the dogs, it’s wonderful how much their company and that connection is needed to relax,” he continued.

Rutherford recalled an incident when their car broke down during a family outing, leaving them stranded for eight hours as their child became “increasingly agitated”.

“But we got home, and the first thing you see our child do is relax while stroking the dogs, and spending time with them,” he added,

“We take our autistic child out in nature with the dogs, and it really is a calming influence, burning off a little bit of energy and everything else,” Rutherford added.

Rutherford credited a greater understanding of autism spectrum disorder with helping his child “get what’s needed out of school, while learning”, adding children with the condition would previously have been considered “naughty or disruptive”.

“I think now there’s more understanding of some of the behavioursm it means our child gets what’s needed out of school, while learning, and that’s just brilliant,” he explained. “When I look back to my own childhood, I think the problem children faced was they were just considered naughty or disruptive, but now there’s actually understanding about what’s going on.

“It’s incredible the way our child manages to focus on things – understanding them better has been brilliant for everybody.”