Help Paisley get a service dog

Hi everyone, I am fundraising for my daughter Paisley who was recently diagnosed with Autism (followed by insomnia). Paisley is two years old and nonverbal. Me (Paisleys mom) and her father have been looking into getting a service dog for her for awhile now. We feel that a specially trained dog to fit her needs will have a great impact in her progress. We believe having a service dog will help increase social interaction and decrease isolation. Paisley does not like to interact with other children often but she shows great interest in animals. Above I stated paisley also has insomnia, sleeping has been a huge struggle for all three of us. Paisley likes the comfort of someone laying next to her for bed time but she wakes up easily from little noises example (alarm clocks, snoring, coughing or sneezing). We are hoping for the dog to offer her comfort at bed time by laying next to her and help decrease her restlessness for better sleep.

Paisley often has meltdowns from sensory overload these meltdowns can involve, aggression, self harm as in (throwing body to the ground, head banging, hair pulling and smacking herself in the head) and severe crying. During meltdowns, sometimes it’s difficult to calm her down, paisley does not always like human touch. Having a service dog can benefit in helping her calm down during meltdowns, help offer sensory support, emotional support and comfort. Another reason a service dog would be beneficial is to help paisley stay safe. Paisley is not always aware of dangerous situations, she will climb on anything she can, sometimes does not pay attention to surroundings, she does not understand directions and most of the time basic commands example (“no” or “come over here”.) Paisley hates being restricted example (hand holding) when going on walks or to the park and when you pick her up she will often throw herself around because she wants to roam free, having a service dog will offer guidance and improve safety habits. I have noticed paisley has a love and interest in animals, sometimes she often hesitates to approach animals, but she enjoys chasing animals, having animals chase her, she likes to roam in circles around animals and always seems to crack a smile. Animals do not always know how to approach paisley or interact with her because they sometimes get startled by her movements as is hand flapping, jumping and pacing around. In this description, I only listed our top reasons we think a service dog would be beneficial. There is plenty more! We are hoping for your help to achieve our goal for paisley and appreciate anything you can do. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read, share or donate to helping paisley get her furry best friend. Our application has been submitted through four paws!

p.s - The original goal was $17,000 every time we have a fundraising event, we will subtract the money donated and update the amount we still need!