Our three year old and wonderfully vivacious little boy, Kai, hopes to receive a service dog from 4 Paws for Ability. Kai was officially diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in April of 2011. However, we have been well aware almost since his conception that Kai was a unique individual.

Even during pregnancy, we were constantly reminded that Kai was extremely active and strong. We can easily look back now and say that he was adamantly telling us that he, even then, had tremendous sensory needs. As an infant, Kai needed to be cuddled, tightly swaddled, swung, and bounced at all times. However, He often seemed unaware that he was being spoken to. He did not seem to pay much attention to the conversations around him either.

It took some time for us to convince a physician that we needed additional help for Kai. At Kai’s two year old check-up, we finally convinced his fifth physician that our concerns warranted a referral.

Thanks to Early Intervention therapeutic efforts after the age of two, Kai is now amidst the long process of learning to cope with and compensate for the many issues that impact his daily functioning. However, Kai still continues to demonstrate an inability to self-regulate, and is highly dependent upon us to assist him in coping, calming, and comforting processes.

Kai even experiences difficulty with the required self-regulation needed to develop regular routine sleeping habits and patterns. He falls asleep with us out on the couch, before he can then be carefully transferred to his own bed. He also typically wakes up two-to-three times a week during the middle of the night. Usually around three or four o’clock in the morning, we can count on him to call out to us to rejoin at the couch for the remainder of his sleeping hours.

Predominantly Kai’s personal difficulties can be mainly attributed to Sensory Processing Disorder, which has also been known as Sensory Integration Dysfunction. SPD is a neurological disorder which affects the way Kai receives, interprets, stores, and recalls information. This greatly impacts Kai’s ability to understand and appropriately participate in the world which surrounds him.

Stemming from these core issues, Kai was additionally diagnosed with dyspraxia and apraxia. These terms describe difficulty in the motor planning involved in gross and fine motor movements as well as those correlated to speech, respectively.

This collective grouping of learning disabilities often makes everyday life experiences for Kai extremely challenging and often times overwhelming. Kai is unable to fully enjoy and benefit from learning experiences at the same capacity as his typically developing peers because he is often over-stimulated and overwhelmed by his surroundings.

Subsequently, Kai is significantly delayed in speech and language development. His poor command of language makes it extremely difficult for him to convey his wants and needs to other individuals, especially his peers. Additionally, Kai does not have a well-developed understanding of environmental dangers. His behavior is still largely impulsive, and based upon immediate, short term gains and sensory seeking.

It would be an understatement to state that Kai is a flight risk. At any given moment he may dart out with absolutely no regard for his own safety. We lovingly describe him as an opportunistic runner. Kai must be watched like a hawk at all times to ensure his safety.

Our constant worries regarding his safety and potential for sensory overload impede our ability to provide Kai with adequate, real-life learning experiences. We avoid any errands with Kai that cannot be quickly accomplished from the car. Currently, we are limited to taking him to playgrounds, and the Children’s Museum. These are the places in which society’s standards for child behavior are a bit more realistic for Kai’s abilities and needs.

We would love to get out into the community, as a family, more often. Kai loves interacting with others and exploring nature, but he needs further assistance to make these sustaining, beneficial, and enjoyable learning experiences. There are so many things and experiences that we want to share with Kai, and we deeply believe that a service dog will significantly enhance Kai’s continued progress.

With the assistance of a service dog, the following activities would be more beneficial and enjoyable for Kai: errand-running; attending therapeutic sessions; large family gatherings; trips to zoos; trips to various museums; hiking; camping; car trips lasting longer than twenty minutes; engaging in verbal exchange with peers; learning social etiquette; an ability to attend school in a large setting, and eventually blending into a mainstream classroom; and we cross our fingers for any additional sleeping aid that may come from the unique bond between a boy and his dog.

There is a long road of growth and discovery in his future, and we truly think that a service dog is the calming, comforting, and protective companion Kai needs to increase his independence, functionality, social skills, and learning opportunities. Kai is extremely intelligent, friendly, happy, curious and excitable. He has an infectious smile, laugh, and energy. A specially-trained companion is just what he needs to facilitate his capacity for individual growth.

We would like to thank you for supporting 4 Paws For Ability, and would appreciate that you do so in honor of our son Kai.
Thank You so Much - The Foutts Family

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.

I thought about it, and wondered why anyone would care, so off I went to Settings/Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Signature. There it was! Past tense, because I deleted it.

Hope this helps.

Carter James Tackitt is a six-year-old who has lived with autism most of his life. He has been diagnosed with autism, has delayed speech, incoherent babbling, stemming/arm flapping, and lack of eye contact.

Carter’s Autism has been very isolating. He has no sense of danger: escaping/wandering off, restless sleep, breaks household and personal family items, destroys contents in cabinets, floods bathrooms, very difficult eater; difficulty dealing with certain textures, temper tantrums, very low communication capability, extreme single-mindedness, extreme stubbornness, extreme difficulty in focusing on anything that should be relevant/important.

He is the youngest of five boys. His older brothers are Cooper 13, Ethan 11, Owen 10, and Brady 7. They love him so much but get frustrated when he goes into their rooms, and destroys their rooms by emptying drawers, dumping out toy tubs, writing on their walls, throwing their game devices over the second-floor ledge onto the entryway floor.

Carter is extremely loving and gives hugs and kisses. He is a happy child. He is not aggressive or confrontational to others. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora the Explorer, NickJr., but Blues Clues is his very favorite so we’d love to call his dog BLUE!

He will often randomly recite dialogue from his favorite episodes for no apparent reason. He loves to play outside and swing. He has difficulty dealing with changes in routine and transition. It’s routine for him to have public meltdowns while screaming and throwing himself on the floor. He’s getting bigger and harder for Mom to handle.

Safety is our biggest issue. Second is independence. He needs more independence, for example, when we go to the grocery store. So that he won’t take off running down the aisles, we must place him in the shopping cart with the seat belt fastened. He’s growing tall, so that won’t work for much longer.

The dog would be his companion. I am hoping that this will also help him sleep better in his own bed. Right now he sleeps in Mom and Dad’s bed because I always think, what if, in the night, he walks out of the house.

Another major concern is the fact that we are moving from TX to OH this summer and that it will be such a drastic change for him going to a location with no family or familiar people. He’ll have new teachers, new surroundings, which is terrifying, so he’ll also have new areas to explore.

We want to be able to raise these funds as soon as we can so Carter can have his dog and bring us relief.

We heard about 4 Paws For Ability (a nonprofit agency), located in Ohio, and made an application. We were accepted. Our family is partnering with 4 Paws for Ability to raise the $13,000 to raise and train Carter’s dog to meet his needs.

You can find out more about autism services dogs and help by making a tax deductible donation to 4 Paws for Ability in honor of Carter Tackitt at 4 Paws for Ability’s donation page, 4 Paws for Ability - Donation Page, or by mailing a check to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Carter Tackitt
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Thank you from the Tackitt Family!

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.

How important is education to a grade school pupil? Riza V. Abaño never met American educator Horace Mann, but she lives the philosophy of Mann, who once said that a person doesn’t reach his full potential until he is educated.

Young Riza and six other grade school pupils of Guinhadap Elementary School, were determined to get basic education despite powerful difficulties. The experiences of these pupils, as featured in the GMA News TV June 2011 episode of Education Special, are unique to a number of communities in Luzon.

These unusual children fought the ocean current while riding the waves from Mababoy Island to the shore of Guinhadap, where their school was located.

“Many times we swam from our homes if our fathers left to fish at dawn.” says Riza with a grin. “We also had to swim from school going home. Our fathers usually didn’t come home from fishing until 8 or 9 o’clock.” And there was the usual 30-minute walk through a grassy jungle trail between the school site and the shore.

Ranging from Grades 4 to 6, these pupils had to give way to the preschool children and the primary graders who took charge of their school bags and uniforms aboard a small banca that had to take two to three trips to transport all the school children. These swimming children had to rinse and wear their uniforms after swimming for 300 meters.

The story of Riza and schoolmates reached the attention of Region V DepEd Regional Director Orfelina O. Tuy, who expressed the possibility of putting up a school in Mababoy Island. This idea soon materialized through donations and community bayanihan.

The makeshift school building, which started classes July 4, 2011, serves 128 pupils from Kinder to Grade VI, with combination classes under three regular teachers and one locally-funded teacher. Its construction started with the 5,000 peso donation of Dr. Gilbert T. Sadsad, schools division superintendent of Masbate, and donors from a Facebook group named Philippine Funds for Little Kids (PFLK).

As this remarkable story spread, other community needs were answered by generous donors:

1. Tap water that runs from Guinhadap to Mababoy Island through a 600-meter poly ethylene pipe submerged under sea waters
2. Free check-ups and medication for children with tuberculosis (it is estimated that ??% of the residents have TB)
3. Seventy-six small bancas for livelihood and two motorboats for ambulances and teachers’ service.

This same story is part of the Yellow Boat Project of PFLK which has gained national recognition as one of the best Liberal Projects in a search sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, a Philippine –based German Foundation.

One of the boat donors and major project supporters of PFLK, Josiah L. Go, a highly acclaimed businessman and educator, posted this on his wall: “These school children deserve our support. Students in urban areas cut classes to go swimming, but here these pupils swim to attend classes.”

Currently, Riza, who is a fifth-grader (she is pictured at the above extreme left with some of her family), and the other school-aged children in the five island sitios - and those of the other sitios across - are in Mababoy Elementary School. Riza Abaño and schoolmates demonstrated the importance of their basic education by swimming to and from school. Their example brings to all school-aged children on the island hope for an equal chance to get a basic education. And educational support continues to pour in.

Below is a photo of Principal Justino Carbales, who has been instrumental in connecting with key people and organizations who are dedicated to better the lives of those in small communities . . . people who see education as a powerful way to ensure this takes place. Carbales is standing among some of the Yellow Boats that now ensure that all area children go to the appropriate school and also help their families in terms of earning a livelihood.

Philippine Funds for Little Kids: https://www.facebook.com/philippine.funds
Masbate Funds for Little Kids
Josiah Go: http://www.day8.org/index.php
Friederich Naumann Foundation: http://www.fnf.org.ph/

The DeZarn family needs your help to get a service dog. We have four children, one biological child and three children we adopted from foster care. All three have special needs. Our service dog will be trained to help all three of these children.

When we started the process of searching for an agency to provide a service dog, we were attempting only to get one for Mylie. Mylie is five years old and was born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD,) which is brain injury resulting from prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol.

As a result of her exposure, Mylie has seizures, global developmental delays, sensory processing disorder, muscular tremors, low muscle tone and some difficulty with chewing and swallowing. She is also beautiful, funny, joyful, and obsessed with all things pink and “princessy.”

For Mylie, our dog will alert us to her seizures, which are silent and incredibly easy to miss. It will help to calm her when she is in sensory overload by providing companionship, distraction, and deep pressure.

Our dog will also be trained to walk with her on a tether system in public to keep her from dashing or wandering off in public on impulse and because she isn’t always capable of watching where she is going and walking simultaneously.

At the same time we adopted Mylie, we adopted her biological sibling, Conner. Conner also has FASD but it is not as severe as Mylie’s. Basically, he has some fine motor delay, ADHD and impulsivity.

However, unlike Mylie, Conner didn’t come straight to us from the hospital, he spent some time in abusive settings that left him with anxiety and behavior issues. For Conner, we can use the tether system as well and our dog will be trained in tracking because he will wander off or sneak off to investigate whatever catches his eye.

The dog will also go in to interrupt and distract his meltdown/chaotic behaviors. Conner has a huge tender heart, he loves more deeply and truly than any person I’ve ever known, and he deserves a big warm fuzzy friend to help him through his tough moments.

Isaac was our little surprise. We planned to adopt a fourth child but only after Conner and Mylie got a little older (they were one and three when we adopted them.) However, our social worker came and told us about a little premie in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Kentucky Hospital who needed to go to a family who would agree to adopt him as termination of his biological parent’s rights was highly likely.

We agreed and he actually attended Conner and Mylie’s adoption. Isaac has a myriad of issues. He has a musculoskeletal condition called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, which causes clubbed feet, joint contracture and instability and hip dysplasia, among other concerns for him.

His speech is very delayed because his jaw is impacted by this condition as well. He had a bowel resection at birth that left him with food absorption problems which means he eats all the time, is supplemented with Pediasure and still is tiny-however, we are thrilled to say he no longer uses a g-tube! For Isaac, the dog will retrieve things he drops from his chair/walker and possibly hit door pads to open them for him. We also thoroughly hope that he will talk to give his dog commands and throw balls for him to fetch.

Needless to say, our dog will be busy, but he or she will also be thoroughly adored and well spoiled. Having an extra set of eyes and hands-er paws, will allow our family to do so many things we struggle with now, like vacations and trips to the park without asking people to go with us to help.

Trips in public will be easier and more safe and we can only imagine sleeping all night without worrying about silent nighttime seizures being missed.

Our family is so honored to have been blessed with these amazing children who have added more love and laughter to our lives than we could ever express; a service dog will help us open the world a little wider for them. I humbly ask that you would consider a donation to 4 Paws for Ability in honor of Mylie, Conner, and Isaac DeZarn and help this dream come true.

Sincerely, Nicole DeZarn & Brandon DeZarn (AKA Mommy and Daddy)

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.

The Safety Sleeper™ from Heiko Spallek on Vimeo.

Margaret Ward was born in January, 2002. She turned 10 years old in January of 2012. We discovered that Maggie had medical issues at birth. She spent 5 weeks in the NICU with breathing and eating issues. She was given a G-Tube and afterwards I was trained on how to take care of her, then she was able to come home.

Maggie started physical, occupational, and speech therapy when she turned three months old. She received services until the age of three, then attended the early childhood program through our school district.

She now attends public school and still has many therapies and services that the school provides. Maggie has been diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS), apraxia of speech, and is developmentally delayed.

Maggie has trouble with transitions from one activity to another, she is aggressive toward her paraprofessionals, and has tantrums and screaming fits at home and school. She also has a fear of doctors and dentists. She is considered nonverbal and at times gets frustrated when she is trying to communicate.

Maggie enjoys being with her family, traveling, and dressing up as a princess. She has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to laugh. Most of all, she wants to be included in everything we do. We heard about 4 Paws For Ability and their Autism Service Dogs. We think obtaining a dog for Maggie would be beneficial to her and us.

A dog will help calm her when she has tantrums at home and school. When we go out as a family, Maggie tends to wander and sometimes gets out of our sight. A dog will help keep her safe in this type of situation. The dog will also calm her for doctor and dentist visits.

With middle school fast approaching, a service dog will be a way for Maggie to introduce herself to new friends.

I have talked to many families with service dogs for their autistic children and have heard how these dogs have changed their lives and how they help to better a child’s quality of life.

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 Maggie. 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 “in honor of Maggie Ward” in the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Maggie Ward
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.

I have a seven-year-old son, Joshua Caudle with severe Autism and ADHD. I learned that there was something wrong with my son when he was just a couple of months old. He didn’t smile or respond to any stimulation. I took him in to the doctors but it wasn’t until he was six months old that the doctors agreed with me. Early intervention wasn’t started until he was about nine months old and it wasn’t geared towards Autism because his diagnosis of Autism didn’t come until he was almost three years old.

Joshua has social issues. His life is set around cars, trains, and animals. He doesn’t make friends. The previously mentioned items are life and friends. He becomes violent towards other people without cause and he is also a child who frequently runs away. He has run away in the middle of the night and has been returned home by the sheriff as well as other neighbors. On one occasion he was two feet away from a rattlesnake.

I have applied to 4 Paws for Ability for a service dog that works specifically with Autistic children to assist Joshua when he gets worked up, because the dogs have ways to bring an autistic child down from a frustrated level to having fun just by as simple nudge of a lick or dropping a ball in front of them.

We heard about 4 Paws For Ability (a nonprofit agency) and their Autism Service Dogs. We think obtaining a dog for Joshua would be beneficial to Joshua, 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 Joshua. We are committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission and can reach our goal with your help.

The dog will scent the child and help me to seek out the direction in which he went so that I can find him.

Another good thing that a service dog will do is while in public while I am shopping, the dog is attached to Joshua and so Joshua cannot make mad dashes away from me.

The dog will be an extreme asset to me. I am not in the best of health. I can run and chase my son, however, the time that the dog spends with Joshua gives me time to take breathers . . . because Josh has a friend.

I have been writing to various organizations to obtain donations to help obtain the dog because my husband and I cannot afford it: we already care for a 34-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy and a nine-year-old granddaughter who had a traumatic incident happen in her life that will take many years to get over.

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 Joshua Caudle’s name on the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Joshua Caudle
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Thank You From Joshua and myself Patty Caudle, Joshua’s mother and our family.

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.

When our son, Carter Paul Scott, was 13 months old, he went into respiratory arrest, and was on a vent for five days. Then in August 2010 Carter suffered a severe developmental and behavioral regression where the following began taking place:

Began tip toe walking.
Lost all eye contact.
Began spinning.
Lost all sense of danger and/or fear.
Began to run away from us or safety.
Lost about a word a week in vocabulary sometimes more.

At that time, his tantrums became uncontrollable, and he began having horrible uncontrollable diarrhea, and “tummy attacks” or abdominal migraines.

We finally received a full diagnosis of his challenges: severe steroid dependent asthma, Subglotic stenosis(30% reduction in his airway), autism, and facial blindness.

While we’ve had many emergencies, the scariest were severe asthma attacks with danger of being fatal. Plus running.

Carter loves all animals, and music. He’s a very affectionate loving child most days, but he does have times when he doesn’t want to be touched. He has never been around any animal that he didn’t want to love on. He likes deep pressure hugs, going to church, singing and dancing!

An autism service dog will be a great help in keeping Carter safe and out of danger (the ability to track him if he runs). A service dog will also help ground Carter and calm him when his emotions are overwhelming to him.

The 4 Paws approach to placement is that they partner with their clients and by doing so are able to place dogs without a long waiting list. While it will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Carter, we are only committed to raising $13,000 in support of the 4 Paws mission.

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 Carter’s name on the memo line to:

4 Paws for Ability
In Honor of Carter Scott
253 Dayton Ave.
Xenia, Ohio 45385

Thank you from Carter’s family.

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