Update 4/11/22: Spoke to both my psychiatrist & a social worker & they both agree, approve and recommend that me& having a service dog would be greatly beneficial, too, I'm just waiting for the someone to write it on an official paper so I can open this fundraiser up again.

Update 13/12/22: We are now eligible for a service dog and officially got a note from our psychiatrist!

Hi, I'm& Arcana&/Angel&! ✨

 

I'm& a 23 year old disabled, neurodivergent, autistic, psychotic, chronically ill, HoH spoonie, queer, trans / nonbinary / genderfluid, intersex, bisexual, Two Spirit, mixed White, Indigenous / Native & West Asian / Ashkenazi Jewish POC Pagan Witch, and I& am the core / host of a multigenic DID system, and I& need to save up for a multipurpose — mostly psychiatric — service/assistance dog for depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, ADHD, Autism, OCD, Paranoia, STPD / Psychosis, C-PTSD and Traumagenic Plurality / DID, considering in hindsight, as a child, I& really needed one especially because of my& autism and my& anxiety, but it's not too late. A myth that ought to be challenged is the belief on the part of some that service dogs are only for the blind, deaf, most severely disabled or end stage of a degenerative disease like MS. Someone who is considered much more moderately disabled, struggling with the difficulties of living alone, maintaining a job or raising a family could find teamwork with a highly trained service dog to be of enormous benefit in achieving the goal of remaining as self sufficient as possible, empowering such individuals to conserve energy, reduce or avoid pain, minimize dependency on loved ones, prevent injuries or get help in a crisis. After months of time and thought into looking into different options to improve my& situation, I& realized just how much a service dog would be able to assist me&, my& mother and I& both agree that an assistance dog/service dog is one of, if not the best guarantees for my& independence and my& ability to more easily function and thrive in my& everyday life in this ableist society.

Psychiatric Service Dogs (PSDs) are taught to help relieve the symptoms of an emotional or mental disability, such as depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, or autism, which, ironically enough, I& have all of those. The capacity for emotional recognition is incredibly important in dogs trained for this, as understanding their owner’s emotions and interrupting negative thought processes or behaviors is a vital part of a psychiatric service dog’s tasks. Individuals who have a significant emotional or mental disability that affects their ability to live their day-to-day life will often be eligible for adopting a psychiatric service dog. However, it must be noted that, unlike emotional support animals, psychiatric service dogs are given legal protections and public access rights in most areas. The primary role of a psychiatric dog is to provide comfort, protection, assistance and acting as reassurance in public. Psychiatric service dogs can help their handler perform everyday tasks that might otherwise be challenging due to their mental health condition, and PSDs are also trained to handle crowded public environments such as buses or trains and to deal with emergency situations.

Individuals with PSDs are granted special rights and permissions so that they have the freedom to access public services without prejudice. Several main public rights are granted to individuals with psychiatric service dogs: Owners of PSD have access to nearly any public areas where pets are normally not allowed. This includes grocery stores, restaurants, taxi cabs, theatres, buses, government buildings, medical offices, parks, churches, airplanes, and more; PSDs can access public areas without incurring a pet fee ( this means that airlines, landlords, or hotels cannot charge an owner extra for bringing their dog, this is highly beneficial to us& as pet fees can generally be quite high ). In the case of accommodation, landlords must make reasonable accommodations for a service dog, even if the apartment, house, or dorm usually doesn’t allow pets. Public entities cannot seat handlers with PSDs away from regular patrons, as they must be treated equally as all other guests. These federally protected rights can be reassuring for individuals with psychiatric service dogs as they can access services while still having the comfort and protection of their animal.

A service dog isn't a last resort for me, as it takes years to come up with treatment plans and I'm not a fan of waiting for six or seven years it could take to try to do all these different plans when I could simply have a service dog. Over the years of searching for answers from doctors, nutritionists, family members, a psychiatrist, and a mental health worker, I realized that they could only help to a degree. In the end, something was always missing. Talking helped but didn’t solve my fears and disabilities. I've grown up with dogs, I presently own one dog. Should I have a service dog in my life, I would be given a built in routine, purpose and accountability. This is of course, in addition to the immense support it would provide me with for the day to day struggles I face due to my autism and multiple disabilities and neurodivergencies, including social support, increased independence, sensory coping, grounding in the case of overstimulation, general self regulation, sleep improvement and so much more. When I was younger, I was easily overstimulated and almost always dysregulated. Autistic adults have difficulty finding service dogs, most agencies focus on children and do not offer service dogs to adults. Although my family and province was fortunate enough to be able to provide me with the opportunity to work with various therapists and social groups on occasion, I found that they did not meet my needs and were repeatedly not a good fit.

I’m currently in the process of saving for a service dog! I& likely have to buy my& puppy from a (responsible) breeder, in addition to paying for a trainer and basic care stuff. While it’s several thousands of dollars up front, a service dog would help me& get my& life back and be more independent.

We& hope to get a large dog from MSAR, an independent Non-Government Organization (NGO) that is the only agency directed by Native elders, advisors and First Nation leadership. MSAR trains service dogs for people with all kinds of disabilities and neurodivergencies and provides customized training for the dog and the individual being served, and they also provide ongoing support and training as the needs of the individual change, because the team is selected very intentionally and a lot of thought goes into making the perfect match. I'm& an aspiring activist, ASMRtist, fashion model, film & voice actrex, vtuber and writer! Pre-trained service dogs are crazy expensive, ranging from $10-30k to even more than that, and untrained puppies cost $1k-$2k and that's not even getting into the costs of equipment for the dog, such as leashes, food, water bowls, brushes, dog beds, treats, food, veterinarian appointments and travelling up to the nearest city in order to meet up with a professional and getting a place to stay, and we& hope to get it pre-trained because training it ourselves& would be extremely difficult because of our& multiple disabilities. So, hopefully, with the help of a professional service dog trainer, a cute and special puppy, and the help of everyone who shares and/or donates, I& hope to be able to gain back my& independence and conquer my& dreams and fears in a more accessible and inclusive way and hopefully help others with my& journey!

 

With a service dog, because I& have multiple disabilities and neurodivergencies, I& would have the right to access businesses, restaurants and hotels and other public places, use transportation and taxis that're open to the general public, places of work and employment, recreational facilities such as campsites and movie theatres, without discrimination, and I& would have a right to the same goods and services that are normally offered to the general public, and permitted to these goods and services, without having to pay additional costs, and without discrimination.

 

I'm& grateful for anything, but please never feel like you absolutely have to, especially if you're worried about how to buy food next month or if you're hanging onto your sanity, this is only for those who're physically and mentally able to give, those who have energy and spoons to care and to people who have money. You're not horrible, cheap, awful or rude, unworthy or unlikable for putting your survival first, so please don't trip, and I& say it all the time, and genuinely mean it, if you feel like people in your online/offline communities have more urgent needs and therefore should be prioritized in terms of support, absolutely please feel free to help them instead/first ( if you have the funds to help multiple people, anyway! ). If you donate over $15, I can send you a thank you voice message! It would mean the world to me& if people were to donate, but if you can't, at least spread the word around, thank you so much in advance!