Child with Severe Anxiety Disorder & ADHD Needs Companion Dog!
Tess Tuhy is a happy, highly energetic seven-year old girl with a personality much larger than her tiny size. She would like nothing better than to have a dog as a companion. Tess absolutely loves dogs and has a friend with an In-Home Companion Dog from 4 Paws. It brings Tess great joy to spend time with Aubrey, her friend’s companion dog. Tess’s life is beautiful, with many challenges.
From the moment Tess opens her eyes, her intense spirit is impossible to ignore. She is a smart, creative, loving and very busy little girl. Tess’s abilities are greatly impaired on a daily basis due to severe ADHD and Anxiety Disorder. She is constantly on the go, and rarely stops moving. She is sensory-seeking, so she is forever touching, moving, and chewing on things.
Tess relies heavily on constant order in her life to compensate for the significant difficulties she experiences with organizational skills and impulse control. Any sudden change in routine can throw-off the entire dynamic of her day. Unfortunately, medication to manage Tess’s ADHD is not an option because it causes her to have terrible side-effects.
Although Tess has a big personality, she can be defensive, hypersensitive and self-conscious at times; this is largely due to her short stature. After much investigation, Tess was diagnosed last August with Mosaic Turner Syndrome, a genetic abnormality, which affects 1 in 2000 girls (www.turnersyndrome.org). Due to the nature of this particular syndrome, she does not grow at a typical rate. Fortunately, she is not severely affected and her heart and kidneys are normal. The majority of girls with Turner Syndrome will also be infertile and have various degrees of learning disabilities.
Tess receives growth hormone injections every night and will continue to do so until she is 13 years old. At the age of 7, she stands at the average height of a four-year-old. Even at this young age, kids can be cruel; one can only imagine the anxiety that this causes her each day. After a day at school, she finds it almost impossible to focus on her homework and manage the demands of home-life that would otherwise be effortless for most children. As a result of the daily challenges Tess faces, her companion dog will be trained in behavior disruption to assist in calming and redirecting her as needed.
Needless to say, it is very difficult as parents to watch Tess struggle everyday in a constant battle to make sense of the increasing challenges in her ever-changing environment. An In-Home Companion Service Dog from 4 Paws for Ability will be a loyal friend and aid in supporting her as she navigates through the increasingly difficult world in which she finds herself. Since 4 Paws for Ability is funded solely by donations, our family has committed to raising $5000 to assist in the cost of training Tess’s companion dog. Please help us help Tess by making a tax-deductible donation to 4 Paws for Ability in support of our efforts to meet our $5000 goal. Once this goal has been met, 4 Paws for Ability will begin training Tess’s service dog.
You can make an on-line donation in Tess’s honor at www.4pawsforability.org, or you can send a personal check. Please make all checks payable to 4 Paws for Ability and mail them directly to: 4 Paws for Ability 253 Dayton Ave. Xenia, Ohio 45385. Please indicate on the memo line of your check that your donation is “In Honor of Tess Tuhy.” THANK YOU!!!! With Sincere Gratitude and Love,
The Tuhy Family - Jim, Marisa, Tess, Alice and Nora
Note: I highly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.