Leanna Michelle Smith was nine months old at the time we found out there was something going on, but we did not know she was autistic until two years of age. She is now eight years old.

She also has mental retardation, and school is a serious problem because, among other things, she has tantrums / meltdowns and is very self injurious. Basically, this beautiful child is non-verbal and mentally a two-year-old in an eight-year-old body.

Leanna has constant ear infections and serious stomach issues. Right now she has a neodevelopmental specialist, ear specialist, and stomach specialist. She’s not potty trained nor is she ready yet. At the same time, she is extremely hyperactive. She has problems sleeping, but is better since she got a new medication about a year ago. Even so, we rock her to sleep at night to relax her.

She can use a fork and we are working with the spoon now. As far as caring for herself, it’s not possible at this time: she needs someone to dress her, give her a bath, and do all of her personal activities she is unable to do this herself. She is like a toddler and puts things in her mouth, flushes things down the toilet. She’s even thrown chairs down the steps just so she could play with them downstairs or outside.

Our Leanna has blue eyes and brown hair, is very loving. She enjoys playing Ring Around the Rosie and likes to play with her older sister and her dad and me. She loves music and lights are her most favorite things. Favorite videos are those like the Wiggles and Baby Einstein items, and she has a Baby Tad she has loved since she was very small.

Like many children with autism we have to watch her all the time because she is very smart is always finding a way to open the locks on our doors. We continue to put new ones on because of her figuring out how they work.

I think the service dog would help her communicate with us so she isn’t so upset when others don’t know what she wants. Her dad and I do know most of the time, but she meets people outside when she is going to school or at school and she is unable to tell them what she wants. Also I think it would help her come out of the meltdowns without hurting herself.

4 Paws partners with their clients and by doing so are able to place dogs without being on a long waiting list. It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Leanna. Our family is committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and can reach our goal with your help.

If you can help us with a tax-deductible donation, please visit 4 Paws Donation Page (http://www.4PawsforAbility.org/donation.html) or mail a check with Leanna Smith’s name on the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Leanna Smith
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Note: I strongly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.

Ryan Thomas Cornett, was born 12/9/02. He was a fussy baby (we called him “Cryin’ Ryan” jokingly) who came home after a normal vaginal delivery with a murmur that we were told was a mild PDA (patent ductus arteriosis), something to follow up with in a month.

Since I was breastfeeding, the pediatrician kept telling me to eliminate this or the other from my diet. But Ryan kept crying. He was treated for reflux (which he did have) but it didn’t help. After the one-month echocardiogram/EKG and exam and we were told to go home, wait for the PDA to resolve independently and come back in two months if it doesn’t resolve.

We went back to the cardiologist for more of the same testing with similar results. With more crying and sweatiness I asked to see the cardiologist once more and he told me the same thing.

At five months of age Ryan developed croup and developed significant respiratory distress to the extent that I had to call an ambulance. As a nurse (critical care paramedic at the time) I knew how serious it was getting but still did not suspect his heart.

An ironic aspect of this story is that my husband, a flight paramedic, was working that night and had to put the helicopter out of service in order to come to the ED with me, the same helicopter we would need to get Ryan to a larger children’s hospital (DC Children’s - Children’s National Medical Center - CNMC).

The ambulance took Ryan, me, and my not-yet two-year-old daughter to the local ED, where Ryan was placed on oxygen due to a saturation of 65% (normal is 95-100%). He was intubated soon after my husband got there, and in a twist (blessing) my husband’s coworker, a pediatric nurse who also worked at CNMC, came in to relieve my husband John. Tom came in so quickly that the helicopter arrived just prior to the intubation and flew Ryan and me to CNMC.

Once there, Ryan couldn’t be stabilized. He was reintubated, to rule out issues with an inaccurately sized or placed ET tube, he was heavily sedated to decrease anxiety and the ED doctor kept trying to get him stabilized and send Ryan upstairs to the PICU. He set some records by remaining in the ED trauma room for something like 13 hours.

Every time the docs tried to move him his vital signs would plummet. The team finally got him to the PICU by literally running the whole way. Much later, an echo was done and many people kept coming into and out of the room. Finally the chief of cardiology said that he couldn’t find the pulmonary branches of Ryan’s heart.

My two thoughts were that so many people in Ryan’s room meant they cared, and that the cardiologist needed to look harder to find the branches. The people in his room were consulting and learning (it’s a teaching hospital) and Ryan had missing parts, big holes in his heart, an aorta that goes the wrong way, no outlet from his right ventricle to his lungs, and therefore no way to get adequate oxygen to his lungs.

He has since had three really huge heart surgeries at children’s in Philadelphia - CHOP. There have been so many terrifying days when we didn’t know if Ryan would live. He has DiGeorge Syndrome and is currently seen at Boston Children’s, where the cardiac interventionalist (cath lab doc) is the best in the world, and does angioplasty and stenting for his pulmonary arteries.

He is seen at CHOP’s 22q and You Center (DiGeorge syndrome affects the 22nd chromosome hence 22q). Kids like Ryan are seen about yearly at CHOP for their 22qa and CHOP’s doctors fine-tune local treatment. There is a great relationship with almost every doc within specialty. And Ryan was featured in a health magazine (local magazine) because we used Angel Flight, a non-profit for getting kids to medical help.

He sees nine specialists (cardiac, pulmonary, GI, ENT, genetics, developmental peds, rehab, allergy/immunology) and has speech and TO weekly privately plus at school. He is in a self-contained classroom in 2nd grade and is doing really well. A month or so ago we started a gluten-free, casein-free diet and he is doing even better. He has ABA therapy as well.

The way his heart works, the local cardiologist does regular echos and updates the Boston cardiologist, who says when it’s time to come back for heartwork, like if the pressure is increasing in his right ventricle. We know he has a leaky valve and will need a conduit change where he had no pulmonary artery and one was put in for him.

Ryan has low tone (gross and fine motor), for which he wears foot orthotics. He wore something called DAFOs when he was smaller (dynamic ankle foot orthotics) which are like what you see kids who are wheelchair bound wear), he has had physical therapy but doesn’t get it currently because it is just too much therapy and he needs speech and OT more.

He is at the about five year old level with speech, same with fine motor and six with gross motor but he has dyspraxia and an unsteady gait. He is easily sensory overloaded and wears a suit like a long sleeved speedo bathing suit that gives deep pressure, we have a therapy swing at home for vestibular stimulation which helps him greatly. He has an iPad and loves it, is great on the Wii, has great computer and hand-eye coordination, he gets sick a lot because of his immune issues r/t DiGeorge. Whatever illness is going around, Ryan gets it worse and longer.

The biggest challenges I see Ryan face are regarding autonomy. He wants to dress himself, pour himself a glass of water, and feed the dog. He needs supervision with all of this. He wants to tell me things but speech delays make that difficult. He frequently wakes up at night, to the extent that my husband and I “split” each night at 2 am. Whoever’s “shift” it is gets him.

Whatever wakes him up, he can’t seem to tell us. Reflux? Bad dreams? He just cries and, once calmed down, nods his head affirmatively to anything I ask. Are you hurting? Yes. Are you scared? Yes. Are you a llama? Yes. That’s our control question to see if he is really listening. My nine year old daughter took to asking him daily if he was a llama, about three years ago, because she thought it was so funny.

The other challenge for Ryan is social. I see him run over to other children and just smile and bounce/hop/jiggle in front of them. But he is only now learning to say “Hi,” and that’s as far as he has gotten. We are lucky to have friendly and kind neighborhood children but I want Ryan to be able to make friends of his own, without parental prompting. He is not even close right now. It’s hard.

My husband has had to work 80+ hour weeks as a flight paramedic and with his own business as I work part-time (pediatric case manager) and be there for his, and my daughter’s, needs.

Ryan missed over 30 school days last year, plus the normal routine is gone because most outside activities revolve around Ryan’s ability to tolerate. He has had 32 aides with about 8 home healthcare agencies.

Ryan loves Mario and Luigi, Sonic, he loves Busch Gardens and Water Country (local), he loves swimming and building/stacking/nesting. He does something I call PSP (putting stuff places) where he will pick up, say, Legos and put them in the space between the fridge and counter. He is famous for hiding our stuff.

His personality is affectionate, to the extent that a doctor early on told us he wasn’t autistic because he was too snuggly. He adores his sister and if we can’t find Ryan chances are decent he will have crawled under her covers or is playing with her toys in her room. He is a perfectionist and will yell loudly and frequently if things don’t go his way. He is fascinated with TV logos like Viacom or CBS. He says them over and over, and recently erased my grocery list and instead wrote, in great penmanship, “Bohbot Entertainment Presents.” How can you get frustrated with that?

Of note, we didn’t know Ryan qualified for Medicaid under a waiver until he was five so there was incredible financial hardship with his three major heart surgeries. The first year of his life, his treatment cost over a million dollars but our insurance did not, thank goodness, have a cap or we would have been bankrupt.

We are applying for a multi-purpose dog because of Ryan’s complex healthcare needs. The biggest reason? Autonomy. Even though I will be the handler, Ryan will be safer and I will be less of an anxiety nut because the dog will help to keep him safe.

Ryan responded beautifully to his horse when he took therapy lessons. In the same way, I think that his communication will be facilitated because he will need to use his words to communicate with the dog. He will get a very definite and immediate feedback to his words and actions when he is with the dog and this is good for his communication.

I also think Ryan may sleep better at night. And I think having a dog with him will lessen the social awkwardness by bringing children toward him as the dog will likely be a focal point of attention. I think Ryan will respond well to having a pet and companion of his own, who’s care is in Ryan’s hands (with supervision), it will likely increase his confidence.

We heard about 4 Paws for Ability (a nonprofit agency) and their Multipurpose Service Dogs. We think obtaining a dog for Ryan would be beneficial to him, and us. 4 Paws has a unique approach to placement. They partner with their clients and by doing so are able to place dogs without a long waiting list. It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Ryan. We are committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and can reach our goal with your help.

If you can help us with a tax-deductible donation, please visit 4 Paws Donation Page (http://www.4PawsForAbility.org/donation.html) or mail a check with Ryan’s name on the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Ryan Cornett
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Note: I strongly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.

Marilyn Rose Mendez was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder when she turned four. From age two on, she began changing, avoiding eye contact, being overly hyper, and not crying out when she hurt herself by accident.

Taking Marilyn on a simple trip to the store has become difficult for us while we are with her. Her tantrums in public have caused us to avoid taking her to the store. It’s a challenge to take her to any public place. We can’t really go out as a family due to her tantrums. When she throws tantrums, she throws herself without regard to hurting herself, so that’s a constant worry for us.

We also have a challenge with her talking. And it’s difficult getting her to sleep. She cannot sleep without me or her Dad with her.

Another challenge we have is getting her to wake up in the morning. We also have challenges with trying to get her to take a simple bath. Another area of concern we have with Marilyn is her running into the street. We recently have been having a problem with her biting people when she doesn’t get her way.

Whenever people meet Marilyn, they are always intrigued by her. Her interests include, rough-housing with her Dad, watching movies, singing, dancing, playing with her sister, playing with small toy figurines, putting puzzles together, listening to us read to her, playing with sand and water, and playing gym in school. She LOVES animals. She has been interested in animals since she was little.

Her personality is a unique one. She is the sweetest little girl. Her smile can brighten up a room. Her laughter is contagious. She acts goofy and tries to get us to laugh at her. If she senses we are upset, she tries to comfort us. She admires and adores her big sister. She likes to take things apart, and put them back together. She is a special little girl.

Her handicaps include inability to socialize with other kids, not talking, not being aware of her surroundings, making eye contact, and behavioral issues.

Although we know an Autism Service Dog won’t help 100 percent, we see a service dog as another person helping us with her. A service dog would help calm her down faster so it would be easier for us to go out in public as a family. A service dog could also sleep with her. A service dog would help bring Marilyn out of her shell.

I also believe a service dog would bring out the Marilyn people should know, instead of the Marilyn people always think is misbehaving. A service dog would be a friend who won’t judge her and would remain loyal to her.

We heard about 4 Paws for Ability (a nonprofit agency) and their Autism Service Dogs. We think obtaining a dog for Marilyn would be beneficial to her and us. 4 Paws has a unique approach to placement. They partner with their clients and by doing so are able to place dogs without a long waiting list. It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Marilyn. Our family is committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and can reach our goal with your help.

If you can help us with a tax-deductible donation, please visit 4 Paws Donation Page (http://www.4PawsforAbility.org/donation.html) or mail a check with Marilyn’s name on the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Marilyn Mendez
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Note: I strongly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.

Allison Krupp is 4 years old. She is the middle of 3 girls. Her sisters Emma 6 and Chloe 3 think the world of her!

Ally was a very happy, laid back baby, but it was obvious something was wrong early on. She began having seizures at 8 months, but it wasn’t till she was 21 months that she was diagnosed with a rare type of seizure and developmental delays.

Since 2010, she has tried over 12 different medications, of which none have been able to control her seizures. Currently she still has 9+ days of seizure activity a month. She has been through countless tests and procedures at renowned hospitals, such as Riley’s Children Hospital and Cleveland Clinic.

Her seizures have been a big challenge for her. They give her headaches, body aches, interrupt her sleep, and basically don’t allow her to function properly or efficiently. After a seizure, Ally is very upset. Sometimes she cries uncontrollably for long periods of time. Once it lasted over 4 hours straight. Often she loses her balance and is unable to walk unassisted. This also is affected heavily by her medications.

These disabilities are a challenge for her family as well. Allison shares a bed with her parents because most seizures happen while she’s asleep. Which means if she has a bad night, so do they. Ally also has no safety awareness. Her parents have to watch her 24/7. She has to be held onto when going anywhere outside of the house, because she will suddenly bolt out into the street or just run off, not aware of the dangers around her.

Besides seizures, Ally has trouble with expressing herself as she does not talk much. She knows a little ASL which has helped, but it takes her a very long time to learn one sign and put it into use properly. She is incapable at the moment to do many things other kids her age can, like dress herself, potty train, or feed herself with spoon or fork.

Allison’s family has teamed up with 4 Paws For Ability (a nonprofit agency), located in Xenia, Ohio. They specialize in training service dogs and Ally has been accepted to receive one. It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Allison and her family. The family is going to raise $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and need and appreciate any help.

If you can help them with a tax-deductible donation, please visit 4 Paws Donation Page (http://
www.4PawsForAbility.org/donation.html) or mail a check with Allison Krupp’s name on the memo line
to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Allison Krupp
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Note: I strongly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.

Cameron Lee Quinn is eight years old, and was slow to develop his milestones when he was a baby. No one seemed to think it was anything serious. He started First Steps therapy program when he was 11 months.

It wasn’t until he was two-and-a-half that we realized he was having seizures. His seizures started out as absent seizures, so we had no idea that they were even happening. Since then, he has been on about every seizure medication available and nothing has seemed to help for a long period of time. His seizures have also progressed from absent seizures to grand mal / tonic clonic seizures.

Non-verbal, Cameron is completely dependent upon caregivers to provide him with his daily needs. He is confined to a wheelchair and unable to convey when he feels bad or feels that a seizure might be coming on.

He loves being around people and is a very happy child. He loves to make friends and participate in group activities. We recently signed him up for a special needs baseball team and he LOVES being around other children with special needs.

Cameron attends school every day as well as therapy two to three times a week. He likes reading books, playing outside, riding his special bike, and playing with friends. Because he is confined to a wheelchair, being able to participate in activities around the community is difficult. Cameron also has seizures, so always being on alert for one to strike is difficult and stressful.

Cameron typically has seizures at night. This makes me nervous and I rarely get a full night’s sleep because I never know when he might have a seizure. Having a seizure alert dog will help us not be as stressed and uptight just waiting for a seizure. It will also provide Cameron with a companion, and Cameron loves dogs!

We heard about 4 Paws for Ability (a nonprofit agency) and their Seizure Service Dogs. We think obtaining a dog would be beneficial for Cameron. We applied for a seizure alert dog and are very excited about the possibilities this could provide for our family!

4 Paws has a unique approach to placement. They partner with their clients and by doing so are able to place dogs without being on a long waiting list. It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Cameron. We are committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and can reach our goal with your help.

If you can help us with a tax-deductible donation, please visit 4 Paws Donation Page (http://www.4PawsforAbility.org/donation.html) or mail a check with Cameron Quinn’s name on the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Cameron Quinn
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Note: I strongly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.

Our fifteen-year-old daughter is named Jahayra Corrina Carlos, but she goes by her middle name, Corrina.

Corrina was a fine and healthy young girl, got good grades in school, and her teachers enjoyed having her around. I did notice when she was a toddler that she walked late. She also didn’t speak, so when she started preschool she wasn’t able to do much in terms of following directions and communicating, so she attended speech and language therapy for three or four years.

Her seizures started when she was in the sixth grade. She had just had lunch when she fell to the floor. Some teachers were nearby and saw students trying to help her, and ran over to them. Her eyes were rolled back, her face was purple, and she was not breathing. Corrina’s coach did CPR on her until she started breathing again.

When the news media found out what had happened, they did a story on her. We also got hold of the news station to see if we could nominate her coach for teacher of the week and they agreed, so Corrina was on the news once more.

Things began getting worse: low grades in subject after subject. The teachers called my attention to the fact that she daydreamed a lot in school and that she seemed to stare at them like she was paying attention, but they when they’d call her name she had no idea what was going on. That’s when we found out she also has staring seizures.

Now she’s in 9th grade Special Ed and all the teachers know and understand the problem, so when she’s having a staring seizure they ask if she’s okay and what was the last thing she heard them saying, etc. Although they care and help, and although she’s trying so hard, she’s barely getting passing grades.

Although she’s 15, it’s like she’s 11 or 12. This is sad, but I try not to show it around her. I’m not able to give her much privacy or freedom, like being left alone for sleepovers or letting her go to her friends’ houses. Or not being able to be outside without someone being with her.

Corrina loves to play with games, likes dogs and cats, kittens and puppies, and taking care of animals on the Nintendo 3ds. She wanted to be a veterinarian when she grows up but after I explained a little about it, she changed her mind. She’s very tender-hearted.

Corrina also loves to read books and draw and color, and play with her dolls in her room. She’s very sweet and kind and always wants to help but of course sometimes she gets frustrated because of her limitations.

We heard about 4 Paws for Ability (a nonprofit agency) and their specially trained Service Dogs. We are applying for a seizure dog because she has epileptic seizures and staring seizures. The dog would make such a big difference to Corrina because she will be able to do more things that a teenager does.

Right now she is so limited. For example we don’t let her ride her bike unless she wears her helmet and an adult is watching. That’s because a seizure could come at any moment and she could fall off the bike. The same goes for other activities like swinging, playing, roller skating, or going outside with her friends.

Her sister and her brothers always have to be with her. Corrina does have a difficult time understanding why things are the way they are, and she wishes she could be able to think and act and be like all the regular girls her age.

Our family is volunteering to help raise $13,000 for training a service dog, and we would appreciate your help by donating, tax free, to 4 Paws for Ability in Corrina’s name. You can donate online at http://www.4pawsforability.org/donation.html or send a check to:

4 Paws for Ability, Inc.
253 Dayton Avenue
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Note: I strongly endorse 4 Paws for Ability as a source for extremely well-trained service dogs. The organization is sound and its goals exceptional. Judy Vorfeld.