Kaid & Lizzy at Disney's Epcot

Bio. written by Mom & Dad

Kaid is a wondrous, amazing, extraordinary little boy.

We all love his big "Bear Hugs," the way he makes us smile with his literal view of life, his uncanny honesty, his energy, and how he loves to ride every roller coaster or thrill ride he has ever seen, and always with his hands high in the air. We all love the way he seems to "know everything" (as his big brother says), his ability to figure things out and grasp concrete rules and sequences when the rest of us are trying to put our minds around it. We love his amazing memory and abilities with math and numbers. Kaid is a wondrous boy with many special abilities. Kaid has Autism.

Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. (AutismSpeaks.org)
Kaid was diagnosed with a high-functioning form of autism called PDD-NOS on September 13, 2007. He was about to turn 6 years old.

Kaid struggles each and every day of his life. He has difficulty socializing with others, communicating, exhibits repetitive behaviors and struggles with the way his brain processes sensory information. Things that you and I take for granted like, the way our eyes see the light, the way our ears hear different tones, the way our noses smell things, the way our skin feels when we touch and the way our mouths taste and feel food can prove to be over stimulating to the point of being unbearable at times for Kaid.

It is heartbreaking to hear the news that your child has an autism spectrum disorder. You are faced with many questions like…Why? How? What Next? And you begin to realize that many of the answers to your questions have not been found yet. So you equip yourself and begin to take one step at a time, one day at a time, learning all you can and doing all you can do to help your child. We as a family have become advocates for Kaid. Trying to figure out all the pieces to his little puzzle has proved to be a hard road to travel. We began searching, and providing any intervention, any tool that we possibly could. All of us with the common goal to help him adapt and enjoy the world around him, to help him learn to adjust to whatever might be hard for him to handle. Emphasizing on his special abilities, helping him to become all he can be in life.

So, when I saw a fundraising advertisement for a service dog for a child that was autistic, you can only imagine our interest. We had never heard of service dogs for autistic people. We only knew of Seeing Eye dogs or dogs for those who had seizures or physical needs. A service dog for people with autism, is this really true? How could a service dog provide help for our son?

We began to do some research. We naturally went to the website listed on the fundraising information -www.myservicedog.com; and that is when our journey began! It was exciting to see that there are really service dogs providing help to those with autism. Let's face it; this is truly a new frontier. Now that we knew this was a real deal, we started researching trying to find any information we could to see if this would be something that would be right for Kaid and our family. It was a little discouraging to see that most of the organizations that provide service dogs were outside the state of Texas. Sure, we knew that My Service Dog Inc. was in Texas and we thought they were pretty close in proximity but we had wished there would have been more of an option to choose from here in Texas, and not to mention in Houston. We also learned that the process to obtain a service dog could be a time frame of one to two years. Not to mention that the cost of a service dog can be up to $20,000. Although we had pretty much decided that this would definitely be worth our effort to look into, things were not looking so promising. We continued to pray, pray, and pray some more…

One evening we were visiting some dear friends of ours and shared our dream of one day getting a service dog for Kaid. They were so excited and thought it was the neatest thing they had ever heard of. They were so ready to help and support us on this new adventure. We left their house that evening with our minds made up…we were going to take the next step and start calling organizations and asking the long list of questions we had come up with.

The very next evening we received a call from that same friend we had visited with the night before. He was so excited to share that he had just met a lady that had two service dogs with her (she was training them) while he was shopping at a local electronics store. He had talked with her for a while, shared with her Kaid's story and gotten her contact information for us. We were amazed to hear that the gal's name was Allie and she was with an organization called My Service Dog Inc. WOW! A coincidence, I don't think so!

OK, now we really needed to start making those phone calls!

A couple of phone calls later we had found an organization that we thought would be a great match for our family to work with. They were located in Montgomery County (which is where we live) and they were excited to work with us to see if Kaid would be a good candidate for a service dog! The organization that we were going to be working with was My Service Dog Inc. and the gal's name was Allie. A coincidence, I don't think so!

And so the adventure continued…

The day we met Lizzy is a day not to be forgotten. The instant bond between Lizzy and Kaid was amazing! She was so content to be by his side listening to every word he said as though she could understand and was actually interested in what he was saying. Kaid was excited and we were able to stay for 2 hours getting to know Lizzy without incident. This is a very rare occurrence. Kaid usually has a hard time staying in one place for long periods of time without wondering off, ending up on the floor, crashing into things or having a full blown meltdown, due to being overwhelmed. It was always very hard for us to ride in the car for any length of time, eat at restaurants, and go to the library (and the list goes on and on). This was the first time in Kaid's life that we had ever stayed for 2 hours without incident. Jenny Waltmon, Lizzy's breeder, became intimately involved in our pursuit to help Kaid. She worked with Allie, to allow Kaid to have several extended visits with Lizzy to see how Lizzy interacted with Kaid as well as our family. Without Jenny and Allie's generous time and patience, we would not have had the opportunity to get to know Lizzy; as well as witness the amazing interaction between Kaid and Lizzy. Jenny and Allie are truly a blessing. We knew then that this was going to be an amazing adventure!

Lizzy now lives with us. She helps Kaid in so many ways! She is helping to provide safety for Kaid by not letting him wonder off when we are out and about. She is helping to remind him to look both ways before crossing the street or helping to remind him to look for cars in a parking lot. Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) is a huge part of Kaid's life and Lizzy is a big help with this too. She is there whenever he needs a big "bear hug" which is one way he has learned to adapt and obtain deep sensory input. He originally learned to come to anyone of us in the family when a big "bear hug" was needed. Unfortunately, as he grew older we were not always there to get his wonderful big "bear hug." With Lizzy by his side he is able to attend functions (without mama or daddy), such as his church class, and obtain that sensory regulation any time he needs it by getting a big "bear hug" from Lizzy. She also helps him when we go to a restaurant to eat. She sits under the table right by his chair. He is able to rub his feet on her obtaining sensory input he needs, allowing him to sit through the meal (she helps with this at home too). Lizzy has also helped Kaid when we go to the grocery store, Wal-Mart, the mall, the museum, the library (and the list goes on and on). Because of his SID he has a hard time with spacial awareness. This makes it difficult for him to walk in a straight line; he tends to always be in someone's way, on the floor, running into things and tends to wander. Lizzy has helped Kaid tremendously with our family outings, by helping Kaid walk in a straight line with the family. Now a simple trip to the grocery store or Wal-Mart is much more bearable. Transitions have always been very hard for Kaid to handle, moving on to the next activity, time to leave to go out somewhere or to come back home after being out almost always resulted in a meltdown. We were at a friend's house one time before Lizzy came to be a part of our family and Kaid had a meltdown when it was time to leave. Just the other night we were at that same friend's house and she was amazed at the ease of the transition when it came time to go home. She said, "I cannot believe the difference Lizzy makes in Kaid's life. She is a huge blessing and help to him."

One thing Kaid struggles with is regulating his emotions, which can result in a meltdown. Whenever Kaid begins to feel overwhelmed Lizzy can sense that he is becoming upset and needs help; to help him, Lizzy begins to nuzzle him with her nose. We then help Kaid to lie down on his stomach and she is able to lay across his back with the front half of her body providing a deep pressure sensation that helps him calm down very quickly. Now a meltdown will last only a few minutes (with Lizzy's help) instead of fifteen to thirty minutes. She also is very helpful in the car. As I said before, riding in the car for any longer than 15 minutes proves to be disastrous. Lizzy rides right next to him and if he is feeling overwhelmed or over stimulated Kaid can have Lizzy put her paws across his legs and lay her head in his lap. We have been able to ride in the car for an extended period of time without incident with Lizzy's help.

A common characteristic of autism is difficult social interaction with others. Kaid has a hard time making eye contact and conducting a conversation in an appropriate manner. Lizzy helps with this as well. Whenever we are out everyone asks about Lizzy. We have encouraged Kaid to respond and answer the questions about his dog rather than mama and daddy answering. This has proven to be a wonderful tool to encourage Kaid to interact with others and to practice making eye contact in an appropriate manner. A couple of Kaid's health care providers that see him on a regular basis have made comments regarding the improvement of his eye contact!

Lizzy loves and admires Kaid, and Kaid absolutely adores Lizzy. It is a sight to see her following him everywhere when we are at home. She never leaves his side, always watching over him making sure he is OK. When they play together, Lizzy will often times become part of the "story": a guard dog when they play army, a princess when they play kings and knights, an alien when they play Star Wars. Lizzy knows that she is here to help care for Kaid and she loves her job ~ she loves Kaid! We have come to call her Elizabeth Grace ~ because the connection between she and Kaid is so amazing and the help that she provides to Kaid is amazing and all of the events leading up to her becoming a part of our family were truly extraordinary. We know that this has God's fingerprints all over it and by His GRACE she has come to help care for our Kaid.

There are so many ways that Lizzy has blessed Kaid, and our family. As Kaid grows, I know that Lizzy will help to provide him with an independence that he might not have obtained on his own. Lizzy is helping Kaid to adapt and enjoy the world around him. Giving us all hope and a better understanding for his future! Lizzy is Wondrous, amazing and extraordinary! Kaid and Lizzy are best friends!

We still need help to finish paying for Lizzy's training. If you would like to make a donation to My Service Dog, Inc. in Kaid & Lizzy's name, please go to the Donations Page.

Contact Allie at 713-703-6924 or 936-588-0770.

All of our dogs need donations for their care and training. Please go to Donations page and help us.