On September 20, 2009 my wife Katrina and I were blessed with one of the greatest gifts in our son Evan.  During the first year of Evan’s life we noticed some things in him that just seemed a bit off.  Little things that he would do and little things that he would not do caused us concern with his development.  At about 13 months of age we tried to have his doctor give us insight on what exactly we were seeing in our little man.  But he just seemed to think that his delays were normal.  At month 15 we knew in our hearts that his delays were not normal and went to see a specialist.  It was that day that we were hit with the word that we would never forget.  That “A” word – “Autism!”  It was that day that we felt lost with no knowledge of what to do to help our little man.  I really cannot describe the feeling of helplessness that we both felt.  Not knowing what to do for our son was a weight that to this day has not been lifted.  Not knowing where to go for help.  Not knowing what therapies would work for him.  Not knowing if we would have to care for him for the rest of our lives.  Not knowing if he would be able to lead a life of normalcy.  The unknowing of what would happen to Evan once we were no longer around.  There were so many questions that hit the two of us all at once that left us felling helpless.  But that was over 3 years ago.  We have found help in and from so many from the moment that we were hit with that word.  Autism is now part of our lives and we would not change that for anything.  We have a child with Autism and are blessed to be able to take each and every step with him.

But now we have begun a new journey with our little man.  In September we had our 1st "O - NO" moment which we only hear about.  We were on our first family vacation with our two boys to Disney World and Evan decided to take a journey on his own.  You see, Evan is a runner! For those that do not know what a runner is when combined with Autism this means the child loves to roam.  While in the park we lost our little man for 22 minutes. The worst 22 minutes of our lives.  It was by far a moment in our lives that we felt as if we have lost the world....a moment in which we as parents felt like we failed our child.  Our nonverbal son was all alone in a place that was filled with so many fears for someone such as Evan.  When we got back home we had 2 more occasions in which Evan found ways to escape the safety of our home.  It was then that we started to look into finding a service dog for Evan.  A service dog that can not only help him grow and connect with our world, but a companion that can keep him safe when he decides to roam.  We have found what we believe will be the perfect match for Evan.  A trainer in Southwest Louisiana has a Lab/German Shepherd mix that will be trained for over 9 months specifically for Evan.  He will be trained with Autism in mind as well as to help keep Evan safe.  But there is a catch..... We have been asked to raise the money vs. simply paying it ourselves.  So this is where we are asking for your help.  Any amount will help.  But simply spreading the word about Evan's story would be a much greater help in that you will be spreading awareness for others just like Evan.  There are too many stories out there about children on the spectrum that run and never come back home to their loved ones.