- T
- A
- M
My daughter Ava was diagnosed with Autism when she was 2 years old. Ava is non verbal and is totally dependant with all activities of daily living. She attends a special needs school and has had ongoing therapies to support her since she was diagnosed to increase her independence and quality of life. In October 2015 Ava suffered a seizure while she was at school and was treated at the Royal Children's Hospital and following a second seizure in February 2016 was diagnosed with epilepsy. As you can imagine this was a very stressful time for Ava who does not have much understanding of what's happened around her and also for my husband and I seeing her unwell when she is normally happy and always smiling. I was recently given information about autism assistance and seizure alert dogs that have proven to be great therapy and companions for autistic children and can also alert you 10 to 20 mins prior to a seizure or when a seizure occurs.
This would be a god send for me where Ava is concerned as her seizures last from 1.5 hours to 2 hours at a time and could be longer if left untreated. I am unable to get a seizure monitor to use while Ava is sleeping as her seizures are non convulsive so there would not be enough movement to register, so I have a video monitor in her room overnight so you can imagine I have been sleeping with one eye open since her seizures occurred.
I have researched and found that these dogs would assist Ava with both her autism and her seizures.
I have found a supplier, Smart Pups in QLD who can supply an assistance dog catered to Ava's specific needs for a total cost of $25,000. Smart pups have advised me that I would need to organise fundraisers to raise $20,000 and donate this to Smart Pups then the organisation will fund the remaining $5,000. On receipt of the $20,000 donation Smart pups will source a puppy and begin the training and integration process with Ava's needs as the primary focus. It will be 14 months before the puppy is ready to be sent home with Ava but that is a day that I look forward to.
This would be a god send for me where Ava is concerned as her seizures last from 1.5 hours to 2 hours at a time and could be longer if left untreated. I am unable to get a seizure monitor to use while Ava is sleeping as her seizures are non convulsive so there would not be enough movement to register, so I have a video monitor in her room overnight so you can imagine I have been sleeping with one eye open since her seizures occurred.
I have researched and found that these dogs would assist Ava with both her autism and her seizures.
I have found a supplier, Smart Pups in QLD who can supply an assistance dog catered to Ava's specific needs for a total cost of $25,000. Smart pups have advised me that I would need to organise fundraisers to raise $20,000 and donate this to Smart Pups then the organisation will fund the remaining $5,000. On receipt of the $20,000 donation Smart pups will source a puppy and begin the training and integration process with Ava's needs as the primary focus. It will be 14 months before the puppy is ready to be sent home with Ava but that is a day that I look forward to.