Jewell's Story

Jewell's 1st visit with the Easter Bunny (2014). 

Jewell is a happy and energetic 7 year old girl. She is a perfectionist, curious about the world around her, has an infectious smile and a contagious laugh.  She loves animals, nature, drawing, singing and Legos. Jewell enjoys going to the playground and swimming.

Like most kids her age, Jewell loves to play and wants to make friends. The difference between her and her peers is that social situations are really difficult for her. She has many sensory issues that make every day a challenge. While she is very verbal, not much of her speech is used for communicating socially. She uses mostly repetitive speech (echolalia) and scripted speech. Luckily for Jewell, her peers at school are excellent helpers and try to include her, in addition to trying to help her stay on task with her schoolwork. She also has a dedicated paraprofessional aide to help her get through her day at school.

We noticed that Jewell’s language wasn’t developing normally when she was around a year old. She seemed to get frustrated and agitated easily. Her pediatrician recommended contacting our local Infants and Toddlers program, and we got her started in early intervention services. After her 3rd birthday, we had her evaluated at Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders when it became apparent that her social skills weren’t developing and she continued to become more withdrawn. Jewell received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as severe mixed receptive-expressive language disorder, developmental delays, neuromotor abnormalities and oral motor apraxia. Later she was also diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, hypotonia, joint hypermobility, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (X-linked) and hyperkinetic syndrome. She is currently being monitored for possible Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, seizure disorder and pica.

Our first experience with a service dog was at a dance therapy class that Jewell was enrolled in from 2011-2012. A family that attended with their children had acquired a service dog through 4 Paws for Ability. Jewell was immediately attracted to the dog, and his presence in the room was calming to her. When she felt stressed she would go over and lay with him (with permission). I was amazed and researched the organization, along with the possibility of a service dog for a child like Jewell. At the time we decided to hold off on starting the process of getting her a service dog.

Now we have decided that it is time to get the ball rolling, as the need to keep Jewell safe is becoming more necessary with each passing day. Her wandering behaviors are increasing, as is her desire for independence. She no longer is satisfied with having to hold Mommy or Daddy’s hand when out in public. Having a service dog will enable us to have the ability to track her if she does happen to wander, on top of giving us the ability to tether her to the dog when out so that she can have more independence from us and feel more like a 7 year old girl. The dog will also be trained to disrupt behaviors, which will make it less obvious to others that she is doing them in the first place. Our hope is that she will also gain a companion and friend that will love her unconditionally.

We have completed the application and interview process, and Jewell was approved for an Autism Assistance Dog. It will cost 4 Paws $22,000 to place a dog with Jewell. We are committed to raising $14,000 in support of the 4 Paws Mission and can reach our goal with your help. Any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated. If you can help us with a tax-deductible donation, please click the green "Donate" button on the right or visit the 4 Paws Donation Page (http://www.4pawsforability.org/donate-now). You can also mail a check with Jewell’s name on the memo line to: 4 Paws for Ability, In Honor of Jewell Staples, 253 Dayton Ave., Xenia, Ohio 45385.