PET THERAPY - A Rescue Dog Who Rescued Us!
by Melinda Lauffenburger
Some of you may have seen Joy and I on the news recently on Channel 5. Maggie Carlo did a story about how our rescue dog, Goldie has changed our family.
As many of you know, kids with autism seem to communicate more when they are responding to something that involves one of their significant interests. In our case, Goldie, our 6-year old basenji, provided lots of motivation for our 15-year old daughter, Joy to enter the outside world.
Over the years, Goldie and Joy's relationship has evolved. In the beginning, Goldie attended speech therapy with Joy. Joy was 9 years old and had private speech therapy with Carmen Jones in Edmond. Goldie attended so many speech sessions we wondered when she would start talking!
Later, Joy discovered the benefits of positive reinforcement and began to teach Goldie tricks. This process helped Joy to learn about different perspectives.
Joy began reading stories to Goldie every night. Later, she made up stories or summarized movies. We would often hear her talking to Goldie late into the night. Many times, she did more practice talking to Goldie than she did in her whole day with us.
Goldie was a key topic for visiting with peers and a much more acceptable conversation topic to others than talking about Pokemon. Goldie helped Joy to begin socializing with her peers at school.
A few years ago, our family began working with Penny Nichols and Creatures and Kids, Inc. (CKI) http://www.creaturesandkids.org. CKI is an organization that trains and certifies humans and animals to volunteer as Therapeutic Animal Interaction / Intervention teams, known as (TAI teams). CKI helped Joy and Goldie prepare for therepetic animal evaluation after successfully passing all 14 items in the evaluation, Joy and Goldie were certified and are allowed access to more places. Joy was very proud of herself when she and Goldie passed the AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and CKI CKOC certification. Being a volunteer TAI team, Joy has enjoyed introducing Goldie to others and telling her story. Joy and Goldie are now volunteering as a CKI TAI team at the Edmond Public Library and will be there 1-2 times monthly for the kids to read to. Joy is excited about sharing Goldie and her favorite books! She wants to share her dog with others. Yes; "volunteering with your animal is priceless"!
In addition to becoming a TAI team, Penny through Service Animal Oklahoma, Inc. (SAOI), certified Goldie as Joy's service animal. This opened up huge opportunities for our family to travel and go to new places. Joy is always so focused on introducing Goldie to her new environment and to new friends that she does not focus on her own anxieties. Family vacations are much more fun! Goldie went on the airplane with us and even went on a tour of the White House this summer!
Most recently, Joy has shocked us all by telling her story of what it is like to have autism and how her dog has helped her. She has spoken to various groups and although she is a new speaker, I must say that she is very entertaining! This has opened up even more new avenues for her to interact with others.
It seems to me that our kids need opportunities not just to "be okay", but to really SHINE! We are so grateful to have found this avenue for Joy. Kids in middle school and high school need all the confidence they can get, right?!
It goes without saying that getting a dog will not produce the same results for every child and every family affected by autism.
Here are a few points to ponder before you pursue getting a dog for your child with autism.
1. The right interest and commitment to your dog. If your child doesn't have an interest in animals, a pet may not give you what you are looking for. Our whole family has gotten involved with Goldie and her training. We are "dog people" and are committed to her training. We consider Goldie a member of our family.
2. The right dog. Not every dog will bless your family. Looking at the first dog can quickly turn into an emotional decision. Get help selecting the right dog. Consult Creatures and Kids! It is worth it to take extra time on the front end so that you have the best long-term outcome. We had several dogs visit our home and also had a trial week with Goldie before she became a part of our family.
3. The right process. Creatures and Kids has a defined process for helping your dog to behave in the human world. In my opinion, training an animal involves a 25% effort on the part of the dog and a 75% effort for the people involved! You will need help-there's no sense trying to reinvent the wheel! Use a dog trainer! Make your pet a family adventure! Learn the basics so that you can start down the path the right way.
Maybe a dog is right for you-maybe another animal? If you are interested in a dog with child experience, send an e-mail to Creatures and Kids. In addition, PetFinders also has an interesting animal that could be a blessing for a family in our group. The dog belonged to a family who had a child with autism. However, due to horrific circumstances, the dog is available for adoption. You can read Maverick's amazing story here. http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=11445984&mtf=1 With any dog, go through the steps to make sure it is right for your family. Time up front, will pay off! Maverick will be visiting the Canadian Valley Family Center for Autism support group meeting on Tuesday, September 2nd at the Yukon Church of Christ South at 7 PM with the shelter and Penny Nichols. For more information about the meeting, our website http://www.okautism.org/ofca/parent-led-organizations/canadian-valley-autism-support-group/
I hope this is a message of hope for everyone-even if you don't like dogs! I am convinced that there is a path to the heart of every child through their interests. In our case, Goldie played a part in unlocking Joy from the dark room of autism-but there are lots of ways to the same end.
If you have a story, please share it! I think it gives us all hope to hear about our kids being successful. If your story hasn't been written, don't give up! Life is a series of seasons and things change. Another rescue boat is always just around the corner-thank goodness!
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PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
by Parent, Mike Morris
Dear Parents,
Hello my name is Mike Morris and I have a daughter that was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (Atypical Rett Syndrome). I am writing you today with the goal to bring awareness and the importance of planning for your child's future. At first my wife and I got so caught up in helping our daughter with today's needs, we kept putting off the difficulties of planning for her future needs.
Until one day I stopped and asked my wife a question. What would her future be like if we were no longer here to help her? Who would take care of her and how would she be taken care of? This was very disturbing to us, so we started implementing a plan that will help meet her future needs. Before I go into these details, I would like to introduce myself and explain what lead me to send this out to you.
At first it seemed everything was going great, she was starting to talk, snapping her fingers, playing appropriately and meeting her developmental milestones. Then when she was around 18 to 24 months, things started taking a down turn. She stopped talking, didn't have organized play and socially withdrew from her peers. I am sure it took weeks to develop, but it seemed it happened over night. It was like we went to bed and she drifted off during the night.
We brought up our concerns with her Doctor. He set her up for a speech evaluation. They stated that she had sensory issues and would consider therapy; they even told us that there were great programs to help transition her into society. This is not something to tell parent at the beginning of finding out something is wrong with their child. We really didn't like what they had to say and decided not to take her back. Through a referral from my wife's work, we contacted Sooner Start. They suggested that she had sensory integration dysfunction and set her up on weekly appointments. We created a home based program with the help of an occupational therapist. We were somewhat relieved but still had concerns.
In 2004 our daughter had an episode at school. At first the doctors thought she had a seizure. He referred her to a Neurologist. During our visit with the Neurologist, we discussed our concerns about her regression and losing skills she once had. He suggested a genetic test to see if there was something wrong genetically. I remember thinking why would he do a genetic test. There was no history of developmental delays or mental disorders within our families.
Soon after the test, we became very educated as to why he performed a genetic test. At the time of the test my daughter showed no signs of Rett Syndrome. On December 14, 2005 the doctor told us that our daughter tested positive for a mutation in the MECP2 gene and he officially diagnosed her with having this disorder.
When the doctor was talking to us about this disorder, it was just devastating. He told us that she would remain the same for about ten years and would eventually become permanently and totally disabled. I remember the feelings we had that day and several months afterwards. It felt like she died. I believe my wife and I went through the same process as if we were grieving for a loved one that just passed away (Denial, Anger and Acceptance).
The first few months were an emotional roller coaster. I was not accepting the fact that my daughter had a progressive neurological disorder that would get worse over time. I was doing research on the internet every day to find answers. I was bound and determined to beat the odds and fix her problem.
We still believe in her therapeutic and behavioral program, but we had to face the fact that this disorder was not going away. We still hold out hope that medical science will find a cure for Autism and other related disorders. But until a cure is found, we have to plan as if she will never recover and will need assistance throughout her lifetime.
With this said, my wife and I recently started working on securing our daughters future with a Special Needs Trust Fund.
There were three basic steps we took to implement our plan. Below each step was prioritized and implemented by what was important to us and worked down from there.
- Future Care Strategy (letter of Intent) - The purpose of a this strategy was to provide written instructions to the future care providers, relatives, advocates, guardians, courts, etc. on how we wanted our daughter treated.
While the letter of intent is not a legal document and will have no legal standing in a court of law, we still had the document notarized. Its sole purpose was to make our wishes known and to give direction to future care providers if something should happen. The letter provides clear direction for others to follow. Our daughter has limited communication and this document will be extremely useful for the provider. This will also help transition her through an emotionally difficult time. - Financial Strategy - The purpose of the this strategy was to define the financial resources needed to take care of our daughter while at the same time providing for the other financial objectives (siblings, retirement, daily living)
- Legal Plan - The purpose of a this plan is to provide legal protections that will be needed to protect our daughter and our minor children if something unexpected should happen to my wife and/or myself.
All three of these plans will be a continuous working document as needs, financial and laws change. If you start a plan, you will want to review each one of these at least annually.
Besides the Letter of Intent, the financial and legal plans will not be easy to implement. It will take financial resources to implement these plans. Between therapy and our daughter's behavior program, money can get really tight at times. My wife and I had to take a hard look at our budget and cut things out. We still reward the children and ourselves, but it is something we have to plan for.
If you have any financial resources, these plans are within reach, it will take some budgeting and planning but eventually you will have your plan in place. The key is starting your plan. If there are no financial resources, please don't get discouraged, I would highly recommend you at least put together the letter of intent. This letter will be your plan and it is extremely important for the future caregiver and your child if something should happen to you. Be sure to take advantage of your natural resources and together develop a plan that will best meet your child's needs.
The above words do not express the relief we had by implementing our plan. Once we put the plan in motion, it lifted a lot of weight off our shoulders worrying about our daughter's future. This by all means does not replace our original dreams, but we feel it is the next best thing.
If you would like tips on constructing a letter of intent, setting up a financial strategy, selecting an attorney or more information on special needs trust, please feel free to e-mail me at okmmorris@cox.net or you can call me at 405-826-3116.
I would like to thank you for your time and I look forward in meeting everyone as we all advocate and plan for our children's future.
Sincerely,
Mike