Hello! We are Ben and Dawn - thanks for joining us in Elijah’s story.

Elijah has autism and is nonverbal. More importantly, he brings joy to everyone and is well-known for loving hugs and tickles. He continually shows us that he is capable of so much more, he just needs the opportunities - and a service dog trained specifically to help facilitate those opportunities. There are many ways a trained service dog will benefit Elijah, including the below examples.

Before he was two, we had already noticed his language was slow and he was even “losing” some of his words. He would be in his own world at times, leaving us unsure of what was going on. We needed to wait before an autism diagnosis was possible but we were able to get early intervention started after he turned 2 and he began some initial therapy. During these early sessions, we would see glimpses of Elijah and what was locked in his head. We learned of his sensory needs and difficulties: how he seeks sensory input like compression, avoids large crowds and loud environments. As a result, Elijah wanders (elopes) and we have to keep a constant eye on him.  He is very strong and fast - he can be out of sight or he can anchor himself to the floor to avoid going somewhere.

Once we got his official autism diagnosis, we were able to access more therapies and he continually improves.  He now uses an AAC device to augment communication, though he still struggles to express his feelings.  When he feels overwhelmed, anxious or frustrated, he will bite the side of his hands to the point of developing calluses.  While a service dog won't directly help with communication, Elijah has always shown interest in animals and some of his speech improvements come from interacting with animals and giving commands. A service dog will be trained to recognize his physical behaviors, such as hand-biting, and to intervene when he is having sensory overload. 

His teenage years are coming and a service dog will help Elijah to gain independence.  By learning to hold the dog's leash, he can walk his service dog in public and not require someone to hold his hand and direct him. When necessary, the trained service dog can be tethered to Elijah. The dog would reduce his attempts to wander off and intervene as needed. If he tries to wander too far, his dog will be trained to anchor itself near us. The service dog can even be trained to track his scent for the worst-case scenario that he has eloped and we need to find him. 

In addition to this, Elijah's future service dog will be able to accompany us to doctor and dental appointments, helping to calm and restrain Elijah to get him through any necessary exams and procedures. This will enable us as parents to focus on being with Elijah.  He will also be trained to help Elijah navigate the transitions throughout the school day, assisting him with the crowded and noisy hallways and keeping him with his class and teachers.

Thank you so much for coming alongside us in this journey! We are so excited to see Elijah thrive with his new companion!

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.