Help this undiagnosed little girl live a more full life with a service dog
Graceanne Marie D’Alberto is a seven-year-old with severe development disabilities. She has been seen by some of the top pediatric physicians in the country at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and Cleveland Clinic, yet she still remains undiagnosed.
Gracie was born with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) - a condition that occurs when the baby is not growing at the normal rate during pregnancy. This can result in many debilitating birth defects. Early in life we noticed Gracie was not reaching goals like sitting up on her own. When it came time to check developmental milestones, doctors found she was not progressing.
In general, Gracie is mostly a happy girl. She seems to have her own kind of sense of humor and can break out with hysterical laughter-even after a meltdown fit sometimes. She is able to tell us what she wants with the aid of her DynaVox communication device and can walk with assistance. She also loves to be exposed to extremes in the weather like strong winds, rain, and snow.
Recently Gracie experienced some of the joys of a service dog at school. In this environment, she reached out to the dog, and was open to the attention. The experience had a very calming effect on her behavior. After a professional recommended a service dog could be beneficial
for Gracie, we learned more about how these loving animals could drastically change her quality of life.
Basically, a service dog is tailored to the special needs of each individual child. For Graceanne, this could mean having a companion that could open doors for her, retrieve belongings, or use tactics such as nuzzling for calming behaviors. A service dog is also able to go into pet mode, but unlike most pets, can tolerate many negative behaviors such as hair
pulling.
What You Can Do
We need to raise $13,000 to unite Gracie with her service dog! Send a Check. You can make a direct monetary donation by sending a check to 4 Paws For Ability, Inc. a 501c3 organization. 253 Dayton Ave, Xenia, Ohio 45385. Your donation is tax deductible. Please be sure to specify Donation made in Honor of Graceanne D’Alberto. Questions? Contact us at graciesdog@hotmail.com. Thank You for your kind generosity.
Gracie’s fundraiser will be held October 2, at the VFW Hall in Mattydale, NY.
Sincerely, The D’Alberto Family- Mark, Bethany, Gracie, and Cecilia
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.