Autism Service Dog for Hunter

Great News!

Between the mailed in donations and Gofundme, we have reached our fundraising goal for Hunter’s service dog!!!

Thanks so much to all of you who donated and shared our story!

Hello Family and our Family of Friends,

As most of you know Hunter was diagnosed with autism back in August of 2017. We have had a busy year with all of Hunter’s therapies such as ABA, OT, PT and speech therapies as well as attending a special pre-school four days a week.

Hunter is doing great, he is showing improvements in speech, and is starting to use some sentences to request things; which is a huge improvement from last year. We couldn’t be prouder of him, and his accomplishments. However, we do have concerns with Hunter when it comes to socialization, anxiety, and his safety. Many autistic children face certain struggles some people do not realize.

We recently applied for an autism service dog, and we were accepted! Yay! This is such wonderful news for Hunter, and us! We’re trying to raise funds for Hunter to receive his autism service dog. At this point the wait list for a service dog is two years, so by the time Hunter is 6 he will be meeting his new friend! The sooner we can raise funds the quicker this process will go. Our goal is 30 days of fund raising thru “Go Fund Me”, where money goes directly to Autism Service Dogs of America.

We would like Hunter to have a service dog because he has difficulties with socializing with other children, and we believe that a service dog will help bring him out of his shell, and help him meet some new friends, as has been the case with other autistic children who have service dogs. Hunter is very comfortable with his family, and loves being with us, and we would like to see this happen with his peers and friends too.

Another concern we have is anxiety, Hunter gets very nervous in certain situations when going out in public, for instance haircuts, Hunter will not let us or anyone else cut his hair, even if he sees a barber shop he will start crying. Service dogs are trained to calm and comfort autistic people during these situations.

The most important factor is that autistic children have tendencies of running off from caregivers, or they can be attracted to the water and may attempt to go swimming without supervision. These two facts scare us, and even under our constant supervision we’ve had a couple of close calls. Service dogs are trained to help prevents things like this from occurring. Hunter and his service dog can be tethered, which will help Hunter stay safe when we go out in public on errands, family vacations, and school.

The total cost for the funds that are needed is $13,500.00 which will cover the adoption fee for the service dog. Our family is very excited, and can’t wait to meet our new family member.

Here is some information on the organization that we will be receiving Hunter’s new service dog from:


http://autismservicedogsofamerica.com/


This site will give you all the information on autism service dogs, and any questions you may have about the organization. Please feel free to contact us if you any questions, we would love to hear from you!

Anything you can contribute will greatly help our family, and we really appreciate you taking the time to read this.

Love,

Ben, Kendra, and Hunter
 
When you donate through this website the funds will be credited directly to Hunter Mitchell’s account for his service dog. Your donation is greatly appreciated. Whether it is completed online or given by a check or money order. Please note Hunter Mitchell in the memo section so your donation will be credited to the correct account.

You can make checks payable to 

Autism Service Dogs of America


and mail directly to:

Autism Service Dogs of America 
20340 SW Boones Ferry Road
Tualatin, OR 97062

EIN: 71-0888906