Missouri Family Needs Your Help Raising $13000 For Non-Profit Organization

 Meet Jude Bell. 

He's an amazing 7-year-old boy who loves to laugh and to make other's laugh.  He's smart, handsome, funny, loving, lovable, clever, and honest.  He tries harder than most anyone you'll meet.  He makes us proud every single day. He also has Autism.  

Autism is a neurological disorder that is more and more heard of, yet still widely misunderstood. Autism affects the areas of the brain controlling language, social interaction, and creative and abstract thinking.  He actually has a very large vocabulary, but does not always use it properly.  He often has difficulty communicating his wants and needs.

In addition, his brain has difficulty processing the sensory information that he perceives.  Many times sights, sounds, smells, and touch can overwhelm him. This usually leads to outbursts and a desire to flee the situation.  Other times, he has trouble focusing because he can’t fight the desire to seek out sensory input.  This leads to sensory seeking activities that alienate him from those around him. 

Every moment of every day Jude fights against his natural tendencies to be afraid, anxious, or overwhelmed.  He strives to communicate and be understood.  His greatest challenge though, may be in trying to make friends.
 

        We have one goal for Jude's life -

                     his happiness!

         You can help us reach this goal! 

  You can support our fundraising efforts!

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"At 4 Paws we have discovered a magic that exists

  between children and dogs, a magic that can become a life-saving miracle for a child paired

with one of our Autism Assistance Dogs."

Jude has been accepted to receive a service dog from 4 Paws for Ability, Inc.  Based in Xenia, Ohio, 4 Paws For Ability, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, strives to provide service dogs to families and children that struggle with life’s daily challenges and who would otherwise be turned away by many other agencies. 

4 Paws for Ability, Inc. mission is to:

• Enrich the lives of people with disabilities by the training and placement of service dogs to provide individuals with companionship and promote independent living
• Educate the public to accept the use of service dogs in public places
• Assist with animal rescue whenever possible by obtaining many of our animals from shelters and rescue groups

4 Paws trains a variety of assistance dogs, including but not limited to seizure assistance, mobility assistance, hearing ear and autism assistance dogs.  Some of the dogs even serve a little time in the Rover Prison Rehab Program as a stepping-stone to becoming certified service dogs. 

Jude has qualified for an Autism Assistance Dog.  How can an Autism Assistance Dog make a difference for Jude?

       situations, Jude will be tethered to the dog to prevent him

       from running away.

  õ TEACH RESPONSIBILITY - Through Jude's

        assisting with providing basic care for the dog.

  õ IMPROVE SOCIAL SKILLS - Presence of

        the dog likely to help promote socialization in ways that have

        not yet been possible, even acting as a "social magnet"

        making it easier for other children to approach Jude. 

  õ COMPANIONSHIP - Providing a trusting

        friendship, and facilitating physical and mental health.

  õ PROVIDE SENSORY INPUT - Decreasing

       the time and energy Jude currently spends sensory seeking.

  õ INTERRUPT UNDESIRED 

    BEHAVIORS - the dog will provide a gentle reminder

       with touch

  õ SEARCH AND RESCUE - The dog will be

        trained as in search and rescue, to track and find him if and

        when he would run away.

  õ RELIEVE FAMILY STRESS - Mostly, it

        would be a huge source of relief for Jude’s family, 

        empowering us to lead a fuller, happier life.

Did you stumbleupon us?  

 As Jude’s family raises money for 4 Paws for Ability, they earn a point for every dollar. 

 When they reach their pledged goal of 13,000 points, 4 Paws for Ability will begin training a dog specifically for Jude’s needs.