Dear Family and Friends:

 

This is a personal request for your assistance in providing independence and friendship in the form of a helping paw for Jennifer’s son Skyler our Grandson.

 

Skyler is a healthy and active 5 yr old boy. He was diagnosed with autism on Dec. 27, 2007. Jennifer has always known he was autistic - it just took 3 years for Doctors to agree. Skyler has trouble with crossing the street on his own, he has big temper tantrums when he is frustrated and will throw things or hit. He has been found in the apartment building screaming, burying himself in the rocks in the planters, and acting like he didn’t know where he was. Skyler loves match box cars, legos, and movies. He plays alone but would love to play with others. Sometimes he doesn’t know how to act around other kids and ends up hitting them.

 

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills.  Autism is a spectrum disorder and it affects each individual differently and at varying degrees.  It is estimated that autism affects 1 in 166 births (Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2004).  This means that as many as 1.5 million Americans today are believed to have some form of autism, and this number is on the rise.

 

Based on statistics from the U. S. Department of Education and other governmental agencies, autism is growing at a startling rate of 10-17 percent per year.  At this rate, it is estimated that autism could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade.  More information on autism can be found at www.autism-society.org (Autism Society of America).

 

An Autism Assistance Dog would be a strong companion for Skyler, trained to provide the special assistance he needs.  An autism assistance dog would accompany Skyler everywhere, acting as a safety feature.  Attached to the dog by a special harness, Skyler would be unable to run into traffic or get lost.  The dog would be trained to comfort Skyler and interrupt his repetitive autistic behaviors, like hand-flapping.  The dog would act as a social magnet, making it easier for other children to approach Skyler and make friends. Autism assistance dogs are also trained in “search and rescue”.  The dog would be able to track Skyler if he leaves unexpectedly.

 

Based in Xenia, Ohio, 4 Paws For Ability is a non-profit organization that provides service dogs to families and individuals.  4 Paws trains a variety of assistance dogs, including but not limited to seizure assistance, mobility assistance, hearing ear dogs, and autism assistance dogs.  4 Paws was the first agency to place skilled autism assistance dogs and continues to be the largest organization that provides this type of assistance in the United States.  4 Paws is the only organization that places autism assistance dogs with search and rescue skills.  More information on 4 Paws and autism assistance dogs can be found at www.4pawsforability.org.

 

4 Paws For Ability places a high responsibility on parents to aide in the creation of a team between child and dog.  4 Paws eliminates the necessity of a long wait list by allowing us to fundraise the money needed to cover the cost of training the dog.  Skyler was approved for their program, and a dog will be trained for him after we reach our goal.  It costs $13,000 to train an autism assistance dog. 

 

Our goal is to help Jennifer and Skyler to reach this goal. Any donation of money will help us to reach our goal of $13,000. Once the money is raised they will look for a dog that will suit Skyler and the family and train the dog. Then in about 9 months or a little longer they will go to Ohio for 2 weeks to train and bring his dog home.

 

Please help us get Skyler his dog by sending a tax-deductible contribution to:

 

4 Paws For Ability

253 Dayton Avenue

Xenia, Ohio 45385

 

Please indicate on your check that the donation is for Skyler Kratz. 

 

Thank you so much for your generosity!

 

On behalf of Skyler,

 

Neil & Tammy Kratz