For years, one Canadian family has exhausted nearly every option in order to find a service dog for their 13-year-old daughter with autism but was left crushed with each denied application.
“I’ve applied for service dogs for her in Canada and the U.S. She was just always denied. She knew I was looking and she would always ask but my answer would be no,” said mom Sarah Mercer, who sent out applications for a service dog for her 13-year-old, Cadence, with autism.
Cadence is on the high-functioning end of the spectrum, so her applications would never get approved. “A lot of times dogs are given to non-verbal children and children who are flight risks,” Mercer said. Yet Cadence still struggles with anxiety and sensory issues that can cause meltdowns and they knew a service dog would make a huge difference so they continued to apply.
“It really hit her self-esteem and she felt like she wasn’t worth the effort. She is struggling in school and really low,” Mercer said. After four years of applying, Cadence was finally approved to recieve a dog, which cost the family $14,000. But when Cadence met her future service dog named Luna, it was all worth it. “It just made everything worthwhile, because she sees that it’s actually her dog and somebody believes that she really does struggle, and she is worth the effort to have that dog and go through all that,” said Mercer.
“It was 4 yrs in the making, countless applications across North America with rejection after rejection. But my wife never gave up hope because we just knew that this would make a life-changing difference for Cadance,” dad Dave wrote in a post after sharing the special moment Cadence met Luna for the first time.
Watch the entire video below to see the emotional moment this teen finally gets a service dog.
Can you believe how many times this girl was denied before finally getting a service dog? Let us know what you think in the comments below and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Dave Mercer’s Facts of Fishing]
Autistic Teen Gets A Service Dog After Years Of Being Denied is an article from: LifeDaily