After finding out their son had autism, one Alabama couple tried their best to give him the most independent and routine life as possible.
“He started when he was about 18 months. The vocabulary that he had, it just disappeared. He would say mama, dadda, babba and then it just stopped,” Alison said about her son, Sam. Alison and her husband, Aaron, enrolled Sam in several therapy lessons in hopes that he’d regain his speech. “At that point, he wasn’t verbal. He didn’t tell us what he wanted. He would get upset have a meltdown and we couldn’t figure out why,” Alison said.
The couple later discovered that Sam had autism. “The say is that if you met one kid with autism, you’ve met one kid with autism because they’re all totally different,” Alison said. And although they have a good routine that allows Sam to be as independent as possible, going out in public spaces can be a challenge. “We still do a lot of buggies in grocery stores and strollers when we go out in public places.”
To assist Sam, now six years old, as he gets older, Alison did some research and found out that a service dog would be a huge help. “The kids were able to walk side by side with them in grocery stores and shopping malls.” To help raise money to afford a service dog, Alison and some family members that work in the wedding industry came up with an idea to have a wedding giveaway.
With the help of local vendors and companies, they are selling $50 tickets to raise money for a couple to win the wedding of their dreams as well as a service dog for Sam. “We couldn’t have done it without the community.”
Can you believe what this community is doing to help a little boy with autism get a service dog? Let us know what you think in the comments below and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Facebook/Sidekick for Sam]
Community Helps Autistic Boy To Get Service Dog is an article from: LifeDaily