Paws for Olivia

This is Olivia! She is 5 years old and diagnosed with autism and epileptic disorder at age 3 1/2.  She loves art, animals and anything Disney. Her laugh is absolutely infectious. 
Children on the autism spectrum come with all sorts of wonderful attributes but there are also many concerns. In Olivia’s case, she has difficulty with extreme anxiety when she becomes overwhelmed or over stimulated which can lead to meltdowns and self-injury. 
Through therapy and coping skills, she is learning how to navigate the things that over stimulate her, but the world is big and loud. She is very sensitive to it. As with many autistic children, Olivia struggles with connecting with people. She can be in a room full of people and not notice anyone. But animals are another story. Olivia has a special connection with animals. She SEES them and they see her.  Olivia was essentialy nonverbal.  With the help of her teachers and therapy work, she is starting to learn how to use small words to communicate. 
In the past we have noticed that Olivia’s anxiety lessens when she is in the presence of her dad’s patrol K-9. When her anxiety is lessened, she is able to function better and able to start communicating a bit more. These findings took us down the path of acquiring a service dog for Olivia to help her function more independently. Our search led us to the non-profit organization, Argos K-9. Through fundraising, we have been able to start training for her new service dog, Vader. Vader is in the process of an 18-month training regime that will prepare him to be Olivia’s partner and service animal. Vader will be trained to assist Olivia in a number of ways. He will be able to help identify when she is becoming anxious and provide the calm, closeness and  positive pressure she needs to help keep her grounded and from hurting herself when she is overwhelmed. Vader will be trained to stay by her side and keep an eye on her at all times. Children with autism are very prone to wander and often have little to no sense of what is dangerous and what is not. Vader’s help here is invaluable as he can alert whenever she begins to wander and stay with her to protect. This will give her so much more freedom than being glued to her parents every moment. In the event she does wander off, Vader will also be trained to track her and help locate her. When in public, Vader will help provide a calm presence for her in overwhelming places and keep a protective eye and distance from strangers. Additionally, Argos K-9 will be training Vader to assist with alerting on her seizure activity and assisting. 
I cannot begin to describe how amazing this dog will be for Olivia and our family. Olivia will not only have a protector and helper but also a best friend. 
We are $6,000 shy of the final goal to being Vader home after he completes training. I am asking friends and family to help raise this money by sharing this with whoever you can and in as many places as possible. Every little bit helps. If we can get 6,000 people to give a dollar, we will be at our goal.
The money raised to far and this remaining balance covers the cost of training, room and board, equipment, vet fees and the other associated costs. Please consider donating to help unite Vader and Olivia. She isn’t such a joy and means so much to us. We want her to be able to experience life in her own unique way as freely, safely and lovingly as possible. 

Please feel free to share this with anyone you know. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. You can look up Argos K-9 for more information on their program and service dogs at http://argosk9.org. Donations can also be sent directly to Argos at the address listed on their website. 
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!