Fundraising for an Assistance Dog to help keep our precious son safe. Tom has autism and no concept of danger - he likes to wander.
Auckland
We are a family of 5 with 3 beautiful children. Our youngest son, Tom, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. He's a happy, funny, beautiful little boy who loves being around people, loves cuddles, loves laughing, loves puzzles and singing. Tom is considered non-verbal as although he has a huge vocabulary he cannot answer questions or carry out a conversation. He cannot communicate his needs and cannot ask for help.
Tom also loves to explore, he has no concept of danger and will happily wander off. Anywhere we go as a family has to be carefully planned with one parent on Tom duty at all times. Unfortunately this does inhibit the fun for Tom, all kids want to explore but because we can't be sure of Tom's safety we must be hands on at all times. Tom resents this and sometimes meltdowns do then occur. The public reaction to this is not always positive (to put it nicely!) - one of the benefits we see from our Assistance Dog will be that people will look at Tom and perhaps instead of seeing a 'naughty child' will see a beautiful dog who is there for a reason and therefore look at Tom with kindness instead.
Assistance Dogs, when properly trained, can:
• Help improve a child's socialisation and behaviour skills.
• Create freedom for the child and family members to go out of the house safely and confidently.
• Expand a child's capabilities to experience more of life and to grow.
• Calm the child thereby giving them an increased attention span and greater aptitude for learning.
• Increase safety levels and alleviate the bolting behaviours (common in children with Autism) by acting as an anchor when tethered to the child.
• The dogs are trained to a high standard, just like guide dogs for the blind and have the right to go into any public place - including, supermarkets, shopping malls, food outlets, motels or hotels, movie theatres and restaurants. They are also entitled to travel on all forms of public transport.
The picture above may just look like a boy with a dog but there is so much more behind this photo. It was taken on the day Assistance Dogs Trust came to visit us and we were lucky to meet Cooper, the gorgeous labrador shown in the picture. We went along for a walk with Tom harnessed safely to Cooper and as a Mum I was bought to tears when Tom was able to walk unaided in front of me. To stand back and see my child safely walking and being calm was an incredible moment. This picture was taken outside Ella's school, we waited for Ella and I was able to chat to her teacher and another school mum without clinging to a wriggling Tom - there is a busy road nearby and a stream and there is Tom, standing calmly. It's not something we had ever stood back and witnessed before.
There will always be environments and situations that Tom will struggle with, and there will always be people that don't understand. To have the unwavering love of an Assistance Dog will be fabulous for our boy.
Our older children, Ella 11 and Jacob 9, miss out on a lot as outings and new situations are so stressful for Tom. Along with big big brother Sam (24) they are incredible with their little brother. They are so proud of him and love celebrating his successes. We see our Assistance Dog as fitting in as a member of our family who is going to be showered with immense love and gratitude every day.
I could talk for hours about our precious boy! If anyone would like to know more please do contact us, we love to share Tom's story.
We are so very grateful that Assistance Dogs are out there, run by amazing ladies who put their heart and soul into these puppies. Their understanding of our situation when we met was incredibly touching. It costs up to $48,000 to raise and train an Assistance Dog throughout its life. Recipients of ADNZ Assistance Dogs are required to help the Charity by raising money towards the costs associated with training an Assistance Dog. The Trust relies totally on community generosity, our fundraising goal is $20,000.
Please help us with our dream of a ‘normal’ happy childhood for our boy.
We are fundraising as a family, mum (Louise), dad (Garry), Ella (11), Jacob (9), Tom (5). Jacob has cerebal palsy and Tom has autism.
Big Big News! 9 February 2016
Another MASSIVE thank you to all our supporters, the wait is over! 5 days ago our beautiful dog arrived and she's already changed our lives! Here is a photo of Tom, a few minutes after he first met Libby outside of school and was scared to go near her, within a few minutes he was happily walking alongside her. And look - notice no hands on Tom! Such a different experience for us as parents to have our little boy walk safely along side us. We can stop next to our car and load up bags etc and have Tom perfectly safe tethered to Libby. We are on a massive learning curve and have a trainer with us for the next few weeks but we just wanted to give you all this exciting update - we are such a happy family and feel like our dreams really have come true - life is changing!
Remember if you'd like to continue following our journey please 'like' our facebook page, An Assistance Dog for Tom. Thank you again for being part of our journey x
Oh this is so exciting! Thank you so much for your part in making a dream come true! Yay - we made it! Please check out our facebook page so you can see pics when the big day arrives. Thank you so much for making a difference, Love from all of us x
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