Henry’s Autistic Service Dog

Fundraising campaign by Mary Coote
  • £185.00
    raised of £7,000.00 goal goal
2% Funded
4 Donors
Raised offline: £500.00
Total: £685.00

No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities

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Hi! Thank You for taking the time to look at our campaign!

I am seeking help in funding an Autistic Service Dog for my incredible sons Henry and his younger brother Leo.

People with Autism think and feel in a different way. They find human interaction and empathy very difficult, they don’t have the filters that the rest of us take for granted. The result is that making sense of their environments is an overwhelming task and is accompanied by permanent anxiety, frustration and fear. Moreover, abstract concepts like love and social norms are particularly confusing. Human social interaction is incredibly subtle, relying on the categorisation above applied to behaviours and inferred expectations that are not understood.

This is why people with Autism have this anxiety in social situations. As a result of the build-up of these frustrations and an inability to vocalise efficiently, they can break down regularly at the most mundane of situations (like forgetting a hat) and have severe meltdowns. These meltdowns are often loud and violent outbursts that can last between five minutes to several hours. They are not under the control of the individual, they are involuntary and cannot be stopped through human interaction. There is no consoling, there is no comforting and the violence can cause injury to themselves and possibly (unintentionally) to others as well. Autistic children can be controlled physically to a degree to protect them against themselves, but as they grow up and get stronger, this becomes more and more dangerous and less and less practical. Apart from these outbursts, the underlying anxiety can manifest itself in harmful repetitive, distracting behaviour such as scratching or chewing.

Sadly my sons suffer in the same way, which apart from anything else is very distressing for me to watch 24/7.

There is a method that can help though. A specially trained service dog. These dogs form a trusted, non-human bond with the child. They don’t need to socially interact with it, so this removes the anxiety. It is predictable, known, non-human, and distracting. These dogs are trained to sense the anxiety build ups and first stages of a meltdown and to take action, by clamouring for attention and strokes. The benefits of these dogs has been well documented and can significantly improve the quality of life for children and adults with Autism. Not only will they provide comfort and refuge and security, but the reduction and prevention of these attacks enable the child to spend longer in social situations and slowly learn how to cope better. There is no cure, but learning behaviours and responses is possible, it requires repeated exposure though, which is not normally feasible.

On a personal note, as a single mother bringing up two Autistic children, the addition of this will provide significant respite from dealing with these behaviours. Surely, the benefit to the quality of life of their children is something that any mother aspires to.

I am doing everything I can to provide this dog for my children. However, I do need your help in raising the cost of £7000 to cover the Service Puppy, the 8 weeks Service Dog training course and Service Dog certification and raise awareness for my cause and Autism in general.

Any contribution would be very gratefully received! If you have got any questions about the boys, the dog or Autism in general, please leave a message in the comments section and I’ll be happy to respond.

Thank you

Mary, Henry and Leo

Organizer

  • Mary Coote
  •  
  • Campaign Owner

Donors

  • Sabrina Ann O Brien
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2015
  • My donation lots of love from Sabrina xxx

£10.00
  • Dilanthi Hasan
  • Donated on Aug 28, 2015
  • For a great mum and two beautiful children xx

£50.00
  • Tom Colclough
  • Donated on Aug 24, 2015
  • Great cause, great kids and a great mum! :)

£75.00
Aug 24

We've managed to raise the deposit for the puppy!

Update posted by Mary Coote at 11:59 am

We have started our journey by mangaging to raise the deposit of �500 for our service puppy:)

See update
0

Donors & Comments

4 donors
  • Sabrina Ann O Brien
  • Donated on Aug 30, 2015
  • My donation lots of love from Sabrina xxx

£10.00
  • Dilanthi Hasan
  • Donated on Aug 28, 2015
  • For a great mum and two beautiful children xx

£50.00
  • Tom Colclough
  • Donated on Aug 24, 2015
  • Great cause, great kids and a great mum! :)

£75.00
  • Guest
  • Donated on Aug 24, 2015
Amount Hidden

Followers

3 followers
Dilanthi Hasan
Frances Ranasinghe-Young
Tom Colclough
£185.00
raised of £7,000.00 goal
2% Funded
4 Donors
Raised offline: £500.00
Total: £685.00

No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities