Autism Service Dog for Miss Tien
Donation protected
The lovely little girl in this photo is Miss Tien Huong Nguyen. Tien is 4, and was diagnosed with autism in November of 2015, as well as a second opinion diagnosis in July of 2016. Tien is a happy girl who loves Playdoh, Trolls, Thomas the Train, and likes to watch Youtube.
Upon realizing that Tien had autism we set out to discover ways to help her overcome her symptoms. Tien would only play with candles, she carried them around in a backpack, she would line them up, so we would use that interest to teach her about colors. Later, when she came to like YouTube we were able to finally see her play like a normal child would.
After a lengthy fight with the public school system, I gave up on them and pursued the medical model of assistance for her which went through with no argument whatsoever. As of September 2016, Tien is considered disabled and therefore qualifies for those services in our home state including pre-school, and the speech and occupational therapies that she needs before entering Kindergarten.
Our next step in securing the best possible help for Tien will be to address the need for a Service Dog. This dog will help her in all aspects of daily life, allowing her to calm down from a meltdown, accept going out in public with little anxiety, stopping any repetetive or harmful behaviors that may develop, keeping her safe from wandering away from her parents, and allowing her to sleep at night without meds.
The cost for the training alone is $1,850. Puppies are not cheap to adopt, and they require lots of vet care up front. We are asking for a total of $3,500 in donations for our cause. Anything received over and above that will be used primarily for purposes of maintaining the dogs health and training as it relates to helping Tien.
This is an important journey for us to start, and the more time Tien has to bond with her puppy the better, she will attend all the obedience and service training with her new assistant from day 1. She will be the one feeding, grooming, and caring for this dog to ensure a proper bond is made. For anyone who knows us, Jimmy and myself, we will commit ourselves to this whole heartedly as we look forward to a future where Tien can go to sleep without medication, will not hold her bladder for up to 12 hours due to anxiety, and will be able to develop friendships, and have as normal a life as possible. We thank each and every one of you who took the time to read our request. Even a share is one step closer to our goal!
Upon realizing that Tien had autism we set out to discover ways to help her overcome her symptoms. Tien would only play with candles, she carried them around in a backpack, she would line them up, so we would use that interest to teach her about colors. Later, when she came to like YouTube we were able to finally see her play like a normal child would.
After a lengthy fight with the public school system, I gave up on them and pursued the medical model of assistance for her which went through with no argument whatsoever. As of September 2016, Tien is considered disabled and therefore qualifies for those services in our home state including pre-school, and the speech and occupational therapies that she needs before entering Kindergarten.
Our next step in securing the best possible help for Tien will be to address the need for a Service Dog. This dog will help her in all aspects of daily life, allowing her to calm down from a meltdown, accept going out in public with little anxiety, stopping any repetetive or harmful behaviors that may develop, keeping her safe from wandering away from her parents, and allowing her to sleep at night without meds.
The cost for the training alone is $1,850. Puppies are not cheap to adopt, and they require lots of vet care up front. We are asking for a total of $3,500 in donations for our cause. Anything received over and above that will be used primarily for purposes of maintaining the dogs health and training as it relates to helping Tien.
This is an important journey for us to start, and the more time Tien has to bond with her puppy the better, she will attend all the obedience and service training with her new assistant from day 1. She will be the one feeding, grooming, and caring for this dog to ensure a proper bond is made. For anyone who knows us, Jimmy and myself, we will commit ourselves to this whole heartedly as we look forward to a future where Tien can go to sleep without medication, will not hold her bladder for up to 12 hours due to anxiety, and will be able to develop friendships, and have as normal a life as possible. We thank each and every one of you who took the time to read our request. Even a share is one step closer to our goal!
Organizer
Reneé McFarland Nguyen
Organizer
Casco, ME
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