“Aspergers service dog for Jackson”

I would like to tell you about my 9 year old son, Jackson. He is a beautiful child who charms every person lucky enough to cross his path. He is incredibly smart; somebody you would want as a trivial pursuit partner as he knows a little (or a lot) about almost everything. Our little guy retains information at a genius level. He loves infomercials and can tell you all the reasons other vacuums don’t stand up to a Shark vacuum and 10 reasons why you need a Sham-Wow in your life. The joke in our family is always “just ask Jackson”. We don’t need Google; we have Jackson!. He has a heart bigger than his chest and often wants to save his money for homeless people and recently told me he wanted to dress up as Santa to bring presents to kids in need. And if it weren’t for me shaking my head and saying “no”, we would have every stray and injured animal around living under our roof. He once spent half the day researching the best type of duck to have as a pet and where to find them. And if you have a free hand, he’s more than happy to hold it. The moment he grabs your hand, he grabs your heart.

My sweet little Jackson has Aspergers, also referred to as High Functioning Autism. He has almost daily meltdowns as a result of his developmental deficiencies. These meltdowns are the result of a sensory overload and build up of anxiety and frustration that he lacks the mental capacity to overcome. He struggles with transition, loud noises, crowds and time limits. Recently, when told he had 15 minutes to make a decision, it ended with him throwing items in the kitchen and living room then walking away from the house barefooted.  These meltdowns  are often violent and require physical restraint and/or time in an isolation booth. Aside from biting,  kicking and hitting anyone within his reach during a meltdown, he also bites himself, bangs his head and rips the wire from his braces. He has run from his school or down the street during a meltdown. During a meltdown he cannot be reasoned with and is just checked out, so to speak. These episodes last anywhere between 20 minutes to over 3 hours. There have been times we have had to hospitalize him or call the fire department when he can’t come out of a meltdown. I can tell you there has been nothing in my life which has shattered my soul more than seeing and hearing the sounds of my baby being restrained to a gurney by 7 EMS staff. When the meltdown is over and we get our Jackson back from the abyss, he is sad, apologetic and sincerely remorseful for what he did. When we debrief his episodes with him his big, beautiful blue eyes fill up with giant crocodile tears and sometimes he crawls into my lap and cries. He hates how he is. My baby is tortured by his own mind. 

We recently had an extensive neuropsychological evaluation done on him. I was crushed when the psychologist talked about how he has low self esteem and depression because of his struggles. He is aware of his “difference” and feels helpless and powerless. He really wants friends, but lacks the ability to grasp social skills and cues to maintain relationships. It’s another piece of his disability that gets him down.

I’ve researched the role of service dogs for Aspergers kids and these dogs have an enormous ability to help these kids in their day to day lives. They are able to sense and detect visual cues to an imminent meltdown and will calm them in order to stave off a meltdown. Their presence is an avenue for decreasing anxiety and their companionship helps build self esteem for children who struggle to make friends. Many of the stories I’ve read and videos I’ve watched of these dogs and the kids who sound exactly like Jackson.

No, Aspergers is not a life threatening disability. But it comes with the depression and sadness that can become a gateway to suicide, which is something I never go to bed at night without worrying about. He’s not going to die from Aspergers, but the daily struggles are torturous and I know if it hasn’t crossed his mind already that there is a very real possibility someday in the future he may want to die because of it. He’s in daily pain, both physically and mentally. And our family is, too.

I sure hope I’ve kept your attention in my long story so far to have struck you enough to give some further thought and consideration to donate to this fund to help my baby get a service dog. I’ve attached a few links of success stories with these service animals, but the internet and YouTube is full of stories about the life changing experience these dogs can provide and I implore you to research for yourself. I am also attaching a few pictures of my little angel as well as a photo of one of the times he was hospitalized and another of when we had to call 911 for assistance with him. 

Thank you for your time and support!
Love, 
Keriann and Jackson Shumate
**Please know that if our campaign fails to raise the funds we need to acquire a dog, we promise to refund all of our donor’s monies back to them.**

Link: Read about a young boy like Jackson with Aspergers who’s meltdowns stopped entirely after receiving a service dog.


Peaceful angel. 
First day of braces.
Yes, he wanted the cow just as much as the cow wanted him.One of his favorite pastimes is family time outside. 
He is crazy about his older brother. 
Waiting in the ER for a bed on the psych floor. I spent 2 days and 2 nights with him until he got upstairs. 

A low point at school. They even had to put a hood on him because he was spitting. 

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