How the journey began...
Simon was diagnosed with autism back in the fall of 2003. We saw Simon lose speech, stop making eye contact with people, and stop responding to his name being called. Simon would spend his days spinning in circles and lining things up...that was Simon's perfect world.
Simon has always loved to move...and particularly run and jump. It wasn't long after he started running that we realized how terrifying it can be for an autistic child to be 'on the move'. The first time it happened was when we were at church. I thought Simon was with Brian, Brian thought Simon was with me...but Simon was really out in the street...and he was only 3 years old. Simon had left the church, and had gone out into the street. This would prove to not be the only terrifying moment for us. Despite trying to keep constant tabs on Simon, he has managed to escape us on more than a handful of occassions...sometimes when he was literally surrounded by adults. Thankfully, God has had a protective hand over Simon...and each time he has been kept safe. One time a car followed Simon 'home'...the man following Simon kept saying 'run home, run home'. That particular time he had run on gravel barefoot in 90 degree weather, and had made it quite a distance in under 10 minutes. Another miraculous time a blue truck just kept circling Simon to make sure that he was safe. Each of these incidents, along with the others that we have experienced, showed us how many angels are out there watching over Simon.
To most parents this might sound horrendous...and to be honest I felt as if I must be the worst parent in the world. Then, after visiting with other parents of autistic children, I found out that this is all too common.
We wanted to ensure Simon's safety, so we asked our families to help us get the ion kids bracelet. Once we got the bracelet, it took awhile for us to figure out how to use it...and Simon was non-stop screaming for three hours the first time we put it on him. Simon finally figured out that he could rub his wrist across the corner of the wall, eventually breaking the latch on the bracelet. We tried to get the other bracelet latches to close, but could not. Amidst these issues, and with the constant worry about whether the bracelet would lose it's charge...we gave up on using the ion bracelet for a tracking device for Simon.
In the summer of 2008 I was given a newspaper article about a boy who had received an autism service dog. I was fascinated at the prospect of this resource for children in the autism spectrum. In reading the article I came to the place where it talked about how much the dog cost, and I immediately put the thought of having a service dog for Simon out of my mind. I couldn't imagine coming up with the amount of money that the family had raised.
In about March of 2009 I was talking with my cousin via the internet, and she mentioned that I should check out 4 Paws For Ability. I asked her a bit about it, and she was excited because a friend of hers (Jami Nowdesha Leeth) was in the midst of waiting for a dog for her son Trapper. I went to the website 4pawsforability.org and checked out the organization. Despite the amazing photos and testimonies about the wonderful dogs and children they had been paired with, I decided to put this prospect in the back of my mind. Over the next couple of months I thought about it a lot, and continued to check out the site, testimonies from families, as well as beginning a conversation with Jami about her experience of training at the 4 Paws facility. Everything that I had read and heard was amazing and brought a lot of hope...yet I still wasn't sure about printing out the application.
On April 20th I got a call from my friend Diane. Their had been a lot of emergency vehicles heading out towards a street where we new quite a few families. There was news that a little boy had drown, and my friend was concerned it was a boy from our church. We did a lot of calling around to find out if everyone was okay, and as I was trying to reach someone I got a call from Diane. She said that she was afraid that it had been Jacob, a little boy who was attending Head Start who had disabilities, one of which was autism. The little boy was found in a pond just down from the house. The medics and hospital staff were unable to resuscitate little Jacob.
When this happened, everything was clear to me. It didn't matter how much it cost, it didn't matter how long it might take...the only thing that mattered is that we try and pursue getting an autism ability dog for Simon. On April 21st I printed out the applications, got the reference forms filled out by people who know Simon and our family well, and got a prescription for a service dog from Simon's Pediatrician. Everything was in the mail within a week. About three weeks later, I received the call from 4 Paws that Simon was accepted into the program and that a packet was in the mail to us.
When we got the packet we were overwhelmed by the information it contained. There is a lot of responsibility, a lot of time, a lot of commitment. I was hesitant, and so Brian and I talked about it over the course of the next week. We concluded that all the work and effort that getting a service dog entailed, and all the work after getting a service dog was far outweighed by the benefit of having this 'special friend' for Simon. We signed the papers, got them in the mail, and began our journey of fundraising....which is where we are now.
As we travel on this journey, I want to be able to share with you the happenings. There are so many who are supporting us in this effort...by prayer, encouragement, financial help, and lots of hope for the best dog ever for Simon. I can't tell you how much we appreciate all that everyone has given to us in their desire to see Simon get this special service dog. I thank you for taking this journey with us...and that you will enjoy the pages here as we travel together.
Simon has always loved to move...and particularly run and jump. It wasn't long after he started running that we realized how terrifying it can be for an autistic child to be 'on the move'. The first time it happened was when we were at church. I thought Simon was with Brian, Brian thought Simon was with me...but Simon was really out in the street...and he was only 3 years old. Simon had left the church, and had gone out into the street. This would prove to not be the only terrifying moment for us. Despite trying to keep constant tabs on Simon, he has managed to escape us on more than a handful of occassions...sometimes when he was literally surrounded by adults. Thankfully, God has had a protective hand over Simon...and each time he has been kept safe. One time a car followed Simon 'home'...the man following Simon kept saying 'run home, run home'. That particular time he had run on gravel barefoot in 90 degree weather, and had made it quite a distance in under 10 minutes. Another miraculous time a blue truck just kept circling Simon to make sure that he was safe. Each of these incidents, along with the others that we have experienced, showed us how many angels are out there watching over Simon.
To most parents this might sound horrendous...and to be honest I felt as if I must be the worst parent in the world. Then, after visiting with other parents of autistic children, I found out that this is all too common.
We wanted to ensure Simon's safety, so we asked our families to help us get the ion kids bracelet. Once we got the bracelet, it took awhile for us to figure out how to use it...and Simon was non-stop screaming for three hours the first time we put it on him. Simon finally figured out that he could rub his wrist across the corner of the wall, eventually breaking the latch on the bracelet. We tried to get the other bracelet latches to close, but could not. Amidst these issues, and with the constant worry about whether the bracelet would lose it's charge...we gave up on using the ion bracelet for a tracking device for Simon.
In the summer of 2008 I was given a newspaper article about a boy who had received an autism service dog. I was fascinated at the prospect of this resource for children in the autism spectrum. In reading the article I came to the place where it talked about how much the dog cost, and I immediately put the thought of having a service dog for Simon out of my mind. I couldn't imagine coming up with the amount of money that the family had raised.
In about March of 2009 I was talking with my cousin via the internet, and she mentioned that I should check out 4 Paws For Ability. I asked her a bit about it, and she was excited because a friend of hers (Jami Nowdesha Leeth) was in the midst of waiting for a dog for her son Trapper. I went to the website 4pawsforability.org and checked out the organization. Despite the amazing photos and testimonies about the wonderful dogs and children they had been paired with, I decided to put this prospect in the back of my mind. Over the next couple of months I thought about it a lot, and continued to check out the site, testimonies from families, as well as beginning a conversation with Jami about her experience of training at the 4 Paws facility. Everything that I had read and heard was amazing and brought a lot of hope...yet I still wasn't sure about printing out the application.
On April 20th I got a call from my friend Diane. Their had been a lot of emergency vehicles heading out towards a street where we new quite a few families. There was news that a little boy had drown, and my friend was concerned it was a boy from our church. We did a lot of calling around to find out if everyone was okay, and as I was trying to reach someone I got a call from Diane. She said that she was afraid that it had been Jacob, a little boy who was attending Head Start who had disabilities, one of which was autism. The little boy was found in a pond just down from the house. The medics and hospital staff were unable to resuscitate little Jacob.
When this happened, everything was clear to me. It didn't matter how much it cost, it didn't matter how long it might take...the only thing that mattered is that we try and pursue getting an autism ability dog for Simon. On April 21st I printed out the applications, got the reference forms filled out by people who know Simon and our family well, and got a prescription for a service dog from Simon's Pediatrician. Everything was in the mail within a week. About three weeks later, I received the call from 4 Paws that Simon was accepted into the program and that a packet was in the mail to us.
When we got the packet we were overwhelmed by the information it contained. There is a lot of responsibility, a lot of time, a lot of commitment. I was hesitant, and so Brian and I talked about it over the course of the next week. We concluded that all the work and effort that getting a service dog entailed, and all the work after getting a service dog was far outweighed by the benefit of having this 'special friend' for Simon. We signed the papers, got them in the mail, and began our journey of fundraising....which is where we are now.
As we travel on this journey, I want to be able to share with you the happenings. There are so many who are supporting us in this effort...by prayer, encouragement, financial help, and lots of hope for the best dog ever for Simon. I can't tell you how much we appreciate all that everyone has given to us in their desire to see Simon get this special service dog. I thank you for taking this journey with us...and that you will enjoy the pages here as we travel together.
