Autism Service Dog for Nick

Nick is my nine year old son. He has autism, epilepsy, and apraxia. Nick is a sweet and loving boy who touches everyone he meets. He loves classical music, jumping, water activities, and snuggling. Nick has made amazing progress with the multiple therapies he has received since his diagnosis at 14 months, but Nick has many obstacles to overcome. He is nonverbal due to his apraxia and uses an augmentative communication device. Due to his difficulty with communication and his sensory issues he can become easily frustrated and has displayed increasing self-abusive behaviors. As a family we always have to be aware of where Nick is at all times to protect him from danger and monitor for potential seizures. We have made multiple modifications to our home to help keep him safe. He is an elopement risk and is not aware of environmental dangers. Nick does not sleep well, waking up several times in the middle of the night. When he wakes up, he is usually unable to fall back to sleep. This could mean his day, and his mom’s day, may start at 2 or 3 in the morning. Nick has epilepsy/ grand mal seizures. He is on medicine to help control the seizures, but they still occur. Between the self-abusive behavior, safety issues and difficulty with communication and socialization, and the increased seizure risk, we are hoping to provide Nick with a service dog that can help assist him with all of the above concerns. A service dog could greatly increase his quality of life. Nick receives weekly therapies that we pay for mostly on our own. The cost of a service dog is not something we can do without the support of others. We want to have a trivia night to raise some of the money we will need for this dog. Please consider helping us, help our sweet boy. He is such a gift and we are forever blessed to have him!