Autism Service Dog for Demi

My name is Deprise Cowley and I want to introduce you to our beautiful Demi Madison. Demi has been one of the greatest blessings of our lifetime. Raising her was a struggle, her being my first born, I blamed myself for her behavior. When she was 10 months old I could tell something was a little different about her; She would often get angry with seemingly small things, she didn’t want me to read books with her and didn’t want to participate in educational activities, and she often refused to eat food. Then the hitting began, her meltdowns were extreme. I was quick to point the finger of blame and it was at myself, I questioned everything a new mother would- Was I doing a good enough job? Was her schedule not tight enough? Am I doing enough educational activities with her? I felt like I wasn’t pushing hard enough with her… so I tried harder. As time went on her violent outbursts became more frequent and, as she grew she became stronger. The impact her meltdowns would have on me made me break constantly and, still blaming myself, I was ashamed to share my experiences with anyone else. Eventually, a family member noticed Demi’s violent behavior and how far behind she was in speech and motor skills. She suggested I see a doctor to have her evaluated. I cried a lot that day, some tears out of joy from someone validating that I wasn’t a bad mom, but also because I was worried for Demi. Shortly after the beginning of our journey, Demi was diagnosed with mild autism. At this point she was 2 1/2 years old and her milestones had not progressed much. Every violent outburst she had she won, and i would remain sore for weeks still searching for a way to help her. She would run away in public, while I was holding my infant son, and I would run after her to rock her on the floor until she was calm enough to leave safely. She wouldn’t eat any solids, not realizing she was starving herself. Her peers didn’t understand her and she felt ostracized. We got her retested a few weeks ago and now she will be 4 years old in may.  she scored a 10/10 on the ADOS scale putting her at the most severe end on the Autism spectrum. Her therapist has mentioned how much a service dog will help Demi. I researched and not only will a service dog help Demi with social interacting, self harming, and hurting others but it will give her a friend who will understand her, who will never judge her and who will teach her and that will change Demi’s life. These service dogs are $15-30,000 so I am turning to you; Please help me help my daughter. She is so sweet, her heart is bigger than the sun, and she is the most compassionate human being I have ever met. She not only deserves this but she needs this. Thank you for reading my story! Please share, every donation helps tremendously.


We have a contract being sent to us from canines 4 hope and we will be starting this journey as soon as we reach our goal!