About Us

As many of you know, our son Atticus has autism. He is an intelligent and very sweet young man with limited expressive language and no fears. He also has severe food allergies. We have been praying for the last 5 years about the possibility of a service a dog for Atticus. Earlier this year we felt God placing it on our hearts that now may be the right time. After making it through two grueling application rounds, our family was approved for a service dog through Wilderwood Service Dogs (a non-profit organization in Maryville, TN). The actual cost of a service dog is around $25,000 per dog. However the non-profit covers a little more than half of that with their volunteer efforts and the family is expected to raise $12,000 toward the cost of the dog. The dogs are raised from birth and go through 2 years of intense training before being paired with a child. They are trained specifically for that child’s needs and like all service dogs will be able to accompany the child wherever they go.

There is a lot of research showing the benefits of a service dog for a child with autism. In the end we feel that the benefits for Atticus and for our family will be priceless. Besides the companionship and social benefits – the dog would be able to track Atticus and find him if we were to ever get separated. This is a tremendous fear for us as he could go into anaphylactic shock if he eats eggs and/or dairy. On June 1 of this year, the ingestion of 4 cheese curls sent us to the Emergency Room with an anaphylactic reaction (his throat closed up and his eyes were swollen almost shut). He does not understand the severity of his food allergies. So if he were to get lost it could be fatal if he ate something with egg and/or dairy. The only form of ID we are able to keep on him consistently is a road id that attaches to his shoe. It lists our information and his information including his food allergies. However – there are SO many foods that contain egg and dairy and the possibility of him finding something or even being given a snack by a well-meaning adult are very high. The service dogs are highly trained in tracking abilities and one would be able to locate Atticus within minutes or seconds after we give the command. We know other families in somewhat similar situations and their children’s lives have been saved numerous times by the assistance of a service dog.

We are just beginning our fundraising efforts and have a few events planned so far (we have 9 months to raise $12,000). I will post updates on these events as they develop and our progress with the fund raising efforts. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this journey.

If you would like to donate by paypal, click here. Please send an email to servicedogforatticus@yahoo.com if you would like information on donating in any other ways.