Our son Bodhi was diagnosed with Moderate autism at the age of 3. We noticed he had staring spells before then and when we got an EEG we were told it was abnormal and to follow up with an epileptologist. Since there wasn't one on the island of Kauai, HI where we lived, we moved to Florida where Bodhi's dad grew up and began seeking out medical specialists and therapies. Since then Bodhi was diagnosed with severe non verbal autism in addition to Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a rare form of incurable epilepsy. Bodhi has seizures every day and all night. During his seizures he sometimes falls and injures himself, sometimes severely. We are hoping to be able to get him a dog that has been specially trained to detect and respond to seizures as well as help to respond to the needs he has because of autism - wandering, elopement, etc. We have chosen this organization and we are asking for help from our friends, family and others to help make this medical device a reality for Bodhi. Please donate to our fundraiser, every little bit helps.

Training a service dog to meet our child’s requirements can be very costly. On average it costs between $40,000-60,000 to raise, train, and place a service dog at 4 Paws for Ability. While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon. We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.