Beckham’s Service Dog
Meet Beckham :) Just under the age of 2 years old, Beckham was diagnosed with level 2 Autism and is completely non-verbal. Beck began Speech Therapy and in home ABA Therapy immediately. Within the last year he has started an in-school ABA Therapy and will be starting full-time ABA Therapy (school) next month. Beckham has just been officially diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder and after many phone calls and lots of research we’ve come to the conclusion that getting Beckham a service dog to help him with transitions, being in public settings, being around new people and sounds, and communication would be extremely beneficial to him and his happiness in this scary world. After all that he’s been through, he deserves anything that will make his life just a little easier to manage and helping him to find his sense of independence.
Beckham was born March 26th, 2017 under very uncertain circumstances. Born at only 28 weeks gestation, he had already been through so much before even taking his first breath. Beckham was sadly born addicted to many substances. He spent his first two days of life intubated and the next 32 days in the NICU weaning off of drugs, all alone. As foster parents, my wife and I received a last minute call to bring him into our home until a permanent placement could be found as he was being released that night. We happily accepted, knowing nothing about him except that he was pretty small, per the nurse. I recall coming home that night from work and laying my eyes on the tiniest little human I had ever seen. At a mere 4 pounds, 8 ounces I knew INSTANTLY he wouldn't be leaving our home. To this day, he has been our boy. We were blessed to have adopted Beckham almost exactly a year after his precious life was brought into this world.
As a result of his rough start, he has faced many, many obstacles. At just under 6 months old, he had his first surgery to remove two inguinal hernias. He then began Occupational, Physical and Swim Therapy to assist with his inability to sit up, roll over/ crawl and the lack of movement/extreme stiffness off his legs and body. Beck was born with nystagmus of both eyes, which caused them to continuously shake back and forth. As a result he was later diagnosed with severe Amblyopia of his right eye and has very limited sight in his right. Beckham has had a total of 3 eye surgeries to help correct his vision but will likely have another in the future.
The unfortunate side of a service dog is the cost, although worth every penny, it is a lot to put together without a little help. In order to get the process moving at all we have to put a minimum of 65% of the total cost down. I appreciate anyone who’s made it this far in my post and if you can’t help financially, sharing with any and all friends would mean the world to us. All the Love & Thank you.
https://asaservicedogs.org/
