Judy Vorfeld’s Office Support Services

Matthew Jones. Where does one begin to explain or tell his story? Matthew is eight years old and on the Autism Spectrum, specifically PDD NOS (pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified). He is a talker but his speech is odd and his language is delayed. He will melt your heart as Prince Charming, telling you, “You are beautiful”. On the surface, he seems like a typical child and this is where we struggle with those who do not know him.

Simple everyday happenings send him into sensory overload. Loud noises bother him and certain smells make him mad (BIG mad). His ability to process these things is broken. When sensory overload occurs, stimming is profound (hand flapping, twisting fingers, walking hard, etc.).

The stimming, if unchecked, builds and builds until a meltdown follows. A service dog, trained to break the repetitive behaviors with a nudge, will serve to break the cycle. Further, by being ever-present and allowing Matthew to pet and stoke him, Matthew will be able to calm himself.

Matthew struggles with understanding others, especially his peers. He just does not understand people; made worse, perhaps, by the fact that he desperately wants to. He very much wants to have friends but, of course, having relationships is a two-way street.

Mathew’s focus is limited to what he is interested in at the moment and simply does not understand how or why other’s attention is directed differently. As a result, his moments of “common ground” with peers are short and fleeting. A service dog will give him something to talk to others about, breaking the ice, and provide them all with a repeatable, familiar, common point of reference. Around such things, friendships and understanding are built.

There are two definitive safety issues and both involve trying to resolve some balance between absolute oversight and respecting/building some degree of autonomy.

1. He is subject to seizures. The primary danger here is at home while out of sight of others. The service dog is trained to alert adults to a seizure. But most importantly, he/she is trained to remove covers, pillows, or other obstructions to breathing in a seized state.
2. his safety while in public. The protocol is for the adult to have a leash and for Matthew to be tethered. Put delicately, besides the considerable trained responses provided by the service dog, this would effectively put limits on Matthew’s range of operations.

As to physical dangers, Matthew’s focus is very narrow and either does not recognize danger or, if he has, quickly discards it in fixating on the next attractive phenomenon. Unless physically constrained at all times while in public (please, no), he is in perpetual danger of darting into, out of, or under some awful outcome.

There are other dangers in public, of course. He does not know a stranger. In his eyes everyone wants to talk to him. It is often funny, actually: for years, he has had the same rapid-fire scripted greeting, “Hi! I’m Matthew, I am eight years old, I go to Fairfield West, do you have any kids?, how old are they?, do they go to Fairfield West?”. Usually he gets his greeting out but pays little attention to what someone answers. The point here is that he is drawn to this behavior relentlessly. Despite what feels like the closest possible monitoring (one must only blink or read a label), it is surprising and worrying how often he has disappeared behind some wall or aisle to be found engaging some confused or amused adult. It has always ended in smiles thus far, but short of tethering him…. it is a great concern.

Matthew’s ability to recognize danger is broken. Tethered to a service dog he will not be able to dart about. Matthew will be at my side and for once I will have control over all situations and Matthew’s safety assured. I can hardly dare to imagine this blessing.

Autism has left Matthew as the proverbial square peg that does not fit into the round hole. An Autism/Seizure alert dog will be his best friend; loving him, looking to his safety, and providing a constant common denominator to bridge to others. It will be an icebreaker that allows him to establish friendships. It will be a calming force in his sensory overloaded world. It will be our family’s safety net. It will help ease the minds of two very concerned and involved parents. It will be forever loved by one special Autistic boy, Matthew.

4 Paws for Ability has proven time and time again how these specially trained dogs benefit special needs children. These animals literally open up the world for them. We are a family committed to doing what is best for Matthew and we are hopeful we can raise the needed funds. We will be forever grateful for any donations made in Matthew’s name. All donations are tax deductable and can easily be made by clicking the donation link or mailing a check to:

4 Paws For Ability, Inc.
253 Dayton Ave
Xenia, Ohio 45385
(Please be sure to reference Matthew Jones on the check or donation link

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Amy or Travis Jones at (513) 858-2246 or (513) 403-8560. You can also reach us by email at ajones3@cinci.rr.com.

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.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Animals, Community Service, Disabilities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.