Matthew's 4Paws Friend

Kids struggling with autism rarely get the recognition they deserve for the small, but meaningful accomplishments they achieve. During April each year, we highlight the struggles; as well as, the joys and successes of kids and families dealing with autism. Our son, Matthew, was initially diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) at 18 months old. Commonly

referred to as PDD, this disorder is one form of autism. Since doctors did not understand how to treat this disorder, in May 2013, PDD ceased to exist; and instead fell under the broad umbrella of autism spectrum disorder in the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). At age 5, Matthew was re-diagnosed with Autism and ADHD by a developmental pediatric doctor at the Milton S. Today, Matthew is an energetic soon-to-be 9-year old who attends 3rd Grade in the Autism Support Classroom at John S. STRUGGLING WITH AUTISM

Like many children with Autism, Matthew showed noticeable delays in development early in life. He was delayed in sitting up, crawling, and talking. It wasn't until almost 2-years old that he began speaking. At the time, we were living in Williamsport. We placed Matthew in an early intervention program through the local IU, but he showed limited success. At 4-years old, we placed Matthew in a program at the Children's Development Center in Williamsport that was specifically geared towards kids with Autism. While he showed significantly better success in this setting, his skill set was that of a 12 to 18-month old. While Matthew was physically growing normally, mentally he was far behind his peers. The difference between him and his peers continues to grow wider and wider with each passing day. In 2010, the struggle of meeting Matthew's daily needs and caring for their other two younger children, Caitlyn and Ronald, required us to make the tough decision to relocate back to Schuylkill County to seek help from grandparents and family. The many family and friends throughout the area have helped in providing a loving, caring environment for Matthew. It definitely takes a group effort to raise a child with autism. THE JOYS OF AUTISM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 88 children have an Autism Spectrum Disorder. There are many different degrees and forms of autism. Each child is unique in their own way; however, most children have difficulty with social interactions, difficulty with changes in routine, and repetitive body movements or behavior patterns. Some children do not speak at all, while others have limited speech, and some appear to have normal language development. Today, Matthew struggles with limited speech, a lack of awareness for safety, difficulty sleeping, and poor developmental skills such as fine-motor skills and focus. Social settings, such as restaurants, are extremely difficult situations. When we first moved back to Schuylkill County, we had to have a fence installed in the back yard and place chain locks on all of their exterior doors to be able to keep Matthew safe at all times. With the help of Sadie Hart of ABA Beginnings, the wonderful therapeutic support staff of Providence, great teachers and aids at John S. Clarke Elementary School, and the nursing support from Bayada, Matthew is starting to show improvements in self-help skills. Due to their hard work, Matthew is starting to feed himself, is capable of assisting with brushing his teeth, and is now capable of putting his pillows on his bed after his mom helps him make it...and he does it with such an infectious smile and giggle that makes the whole family laugh. While many children with Autism do not show affection, Matthew is uniquely different. Matthew loves to go for walks and will do anything to get to go on one. He is not afraid of strangers, and will go straight up to someone who comes in the house, take their hand, tilt his head, and politely ask over and over again to go for a walk, his big eyes wide open. If you sit down, he will climb on top of you and give a big open-mouth kiss, trying any way he can to get that walk. SERVICE DOG

In the spring of 2013, we became aware of a program through 4 Paws for Ability, which provides service dogs to autistic children. Similar to a service dog for people who are blind, service dogs can also be trained to help cope with the difficulties of people with autism. An application for a service dog through 4 Paws for Ability was completed and accepted for Matthew. Based on the application, the service dog will be trained for behavior disruption (touching, nudging, snuggling, and applying deep pressure), tethering during walks to prevent Matthew from running off, and tracking in the event Matthew would get lost. The service dog could also help increase Matthew’s vocabulary because the family intends to try to teach Matthew the commands and help with social interaction when he is out in public with his service dog. While not specifically trained to aid in sleeping, a number of autistic service dog recipients have also noticed that they have seen improvements in their child’s sleep patterns. As you can image, the cost associated with training an autistic support dog is staggering. To help defray this cost, we committed to raising $13,000 in support of 4 Paws mission, which is only a portion of the $22,000 total cost associated with placement of a service dog. This does not include the personal expenses of traveling to Ohio for two weeks to receive the appropriate training before bringing the service dog home or the expenses associated with caring and raising the service dog. Due to the overwhelming support, we are not only able to obtain an autistic support service dog for Matthew, but have the ability to provide enough funding to the another local family in Valley View to obtain a service dog for their son, Nathan. We are grateful that 4 Paws for Ability has allowed us to redirect funds in excess of our goal to Nathan, which will cover his shortfall and allow both Matthew and Nathan to receive their service dogs during the same training class in May. Throughout the course of the training, we will be posting updates, photos, and videos to this page to let everyone know how things are going.