A sold-out crowd filled the ballroom at L’Auberge Del Mar for Autism & Animals, An Evening With Temple Grandin to benefit a designated Tender Loving Canines Assistance Dogs, Inc. (TLCAD) fund to provide service dogs to TERI, Inc. and ACT Today!. Supporters enjoyed a fascinating presentation by keynote speaker Temple Grandin, PhD, the noted autistic, engineer, and author named one of Time Magazine’s most influential people. The benefit also featured a brief talk by Encinitas mother Caroline Tingum, whose eight-year-old son Garrett was diagnosed with autism at 19 months. The Tingum family will soon receive Ruby, a Golden Retriever currently with volunteer trainer Linda Chandler while living and learning through Solana Beach-based TLCAD, which is trying desperately to keep up with the increasing need and demand for its unique customized training services. Currently there are over 100 applicants for TLCAD’s Leash-On-Life Program and over 70 applicants for its At Ease Program, which helps wounded warriors, who have found it impossible to lead normal lives after returning from deployment, venture into public settings with pride and confidence with their service dog at their side.
Photography by Bob Stefanko and courtesy of Gianna Rosetti
