Hello to all who find themselves here!

Thank you for making it to this page, just your reading Lea's story is an honor. 

This is Lea's Mom, Cindy. Her Dad, Josiah, and I are asking for $20,000 so we can bring a service dog (through 4 Paws for Ability) into our home, to help not just Lea, but also every heartbeat under our roof.

Our sunny, quick-witted, girl has autism. For her, that means her environment nearly constantly overwhelms her, particularly sounds in which a "neurotyplical" person would feel unbothered. In addition, Lea struggles to process emotions fluidly. This causes distress, and distracts her from daily activities. As her anxiety reservoir fills, she loses her ability to communicate and socially interact. Over the years, this has caused a tremendous strain on her heart. And it makes sense, as Lea spends an enormous amount of her internal resources to stay calm. I think any person would begin to feel like they are broken if year after year their mind and body responded so differently to their world than everyone else.

Lea's mind has exceptionally high processing speed, as well as a very high IQ. She is in honors classes (making great grades, we are proud!), LOVES theatre (ask her to give you a movie quote!), and plays in her school band (flute!). And she is a very social girl! But Lea struggles socially, which isolates her from peers who don't understand. Even when she is with people she enjoys, and she often doesn’t have energy left to invest, because her world is a sensory uphill battle every day. My heart swells with pride that she shows up and works hard in the midst of so much environmental sensory strain.

By the time Lea comes home (from school, church, anywhere!), she has no reserves left. 9 out of 10 times, this exhaustion looks like her having a meltdown with aggression, falling asleep right away or sobbing in her bed. This is because she understands how to mask in public, and she does so she can fit in, but her hiding herself comes at a sincere cost.

Telling Lea's story is a challenge. She is not in a wheelchair and does not show obvious signs of disability. She "seems" normal, so how can we ask for such life-altering help? Her disability is inside her body, invisible to everyone but the people in her home. It is an enormous magnitude of sensory overwhelm inside Lea's body, and it cripples her. This world isn't able to accommodate Lea's need for dampened environmental stimuli, so her body shuts down, at home, where she feels safe. The world Lea experiences is completely and totally different from what you and I experience, because of her involuntary response to sensory stimulation. 

Our girl is tired. Since 3rd grade (she is in 6th now), Lea has said, "I hate myself" and "I hate school", which also makes sense because she sees her peers thriving, at ease and interacting in their comfortable world, and she just wants to have the same thing. 

Every day, Josiah and I take turns supporting Lea one on one. This looks like taking her from a common room in the house which is too loud (doing our best to stay calm ourselves), and staying with her until she is feels better, or providing a barrier for siblings when her ability to calm herself is significantly decreased. Often it is Josiah who keeps Lea, as she resists comfort or help from me, and does not want to be near me, which is a frequent reaction for children with autism.

While one parent is with Lea, the other parent supports our other 3 children (ages 12, 9 and 7), as they  feel the distress of our environment. They have fear, confusion and sadness, and we do our best to help them understand what Lea is struggling with, and address their own needs at the same time.  

What a service dog would do for Lea (and our whole family):

• Use techniques like redirection and deep pressure to help comfort Lea, and mitigate meltdowns. This alone will change so much for Lea! Redirection is very effective. 
• Detect when she is overwhelmed or triggered, and respond immediately without the need for Lea to describe what she needs.
• Provide constant environmental support so Josiah and I can be present for Lea and her siblings, even when she is distressed.
• Other undiscovered benefits we will learn along the way!

The support of a service dog is dynamic, intuitive and immediate. We believe this ongoing help would change Lea's life, forever. We have tried multiple therapies to accommodate her needs, and each has its usefulness. But we have never brought another heart to move into our home to LOVE Lea, just the way she is. And we see Love as the greatest path to reach potential and thrive.

We have partnered with 4 Paws for Ability, a non-profit organization that raises, breeds, trains and places service dogs with children and veterans who have disabilities.

4 Paws for Ability places over 120 service dogs annually, all trained with specific tasks and skills to mitigate their partner's disability. To date, more than 1,800 service dog teams have been created, thanks to the dedication of their staff, volunteers and donors. 

Your help - whether through donations or by sharing our campaign - no matter how small, will bring us closer to providing Lea full time individual support. Closer to a nonjudgmental, reliable and tender partner, and closer to realizing her own magnificent potential.

We also ask that you please do not provide monetary support if it is not within your means. We fully understand that each income and budget is unique, with a kaleidoscope of circumstances, and we know not every person or family has financial availability. We fully trust every need will be met! Just your reading Lea's story is a gift. 

Thank you for your kindness, compassion, and assistance as we work to bring life-changing aid into Lea's world. We are humbled and deeply grateful for you.

Sincerely,

Cindy, Josiah and Liv, Lea, Jude & Laura Campbell

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.