Judy Vorfeld’s Office Support Services

Kathryn Ross-Schmid is one of the 1:150 children in the United States diagnosed with autism. She was diagnosed right before she turned three years old. To the outside world, Kathryn looks like any other four-year-old child, loving and energetic with an infectious smile and gentle spirit. However, spend a few minutes with her and you will see that there are distinct differences. Kathryn is trapped in her own little bubble that few people are allowed in or would understand even if they were allowed in.

A smart child who knows all her ABC’s, she can count to 20 and even recognize a few words by sight rather than picture. However, Kathryn is mostly non-verbal. With the help of her special school, she’s getting better using words. They aren’t always used appropriately and she spends most of her time repeating songs or stories in a manner that is not recognizable. She understands words, but when they are repeated back they seem to be jumbled.

Kathryn is learning to defeat locks and baby gates. Once she got through the front door locks and was found across the street in the park in the two minutes it took her mother to go to the restroom. She has learned to build steps over the baby gates to get past them, building them the same on both sides so she can just climb up and over with out falling on the other side.

Fear and any concept of danger are unknown to her. She doesn’t come home on her own, or respond when her name is called, yet she’s is very curious and independent and wants to do things on her own.

Kathryn is very sensitive to noises and has meltdowns if there is too much stimulation. She is more sensitive to pitch rather than volume. She loves music and is usually calmed by it. Crowds do not seem to bother her since she rarely notices other people unless they get into her “space.”

Dogs, cats, and fish are very important to her. Socially, she’s in her own world and is usually left alone by her peers, since she doesn’t acknowledge them if they try to initiate play. They don’t understand that she isn’t being rude.

Having an autism service dog will help Kathryn be able to allow someone into her “bubble” that understands her world and doesn’t judge her or force their world on her. She needs a dog who will just love her and be her best friend. She will be able to explore the outside world with her friend at her side to keep her safe without having to be glued to her parents for safety. If she gets too adventurous, the family will have that extra nose to sniff her out and help them find her.

Finally the family will be able to do things as a family without one always being left behind with Kathryn. They love her to pieces, but the phrase they most often use to describe family outings with her is like “trying to herd cats.”

“4 Paws won my heart with everything they do and with the amount of integrity they do it with,” says Katheryn’s mother, Regina. “I am just in the beginning stages of this journey with 4 Paws for Ability, and have only had contact with a couple of people, but they are amazing.” It will be necessary for the family to raise funds to train this special service dog. Anyone wanting to support Kathryn can make a tax-free donation to 4 Paws for Ability in the name of Kathryn Ross-Schmid.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 9:32 pm and is filed under Animals, Disabilities, Social Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.