Canine Companions for Independence provide highly-trained assistance dogs for children and adults with disabilities, free of charge! CCI was founded in 1975 and since then there has been 3,683 graduate teams. CCI trains four types of assistance dogs:
Service Teams- assist adults with physical disabilities by performing daily tasks
Hearing Teams- alert the deaf and hard of hearing to important sounds
Skilled Companion Teams-enhance independence for children and adults with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities
Facility Teams- work with a professional in a visitation, education or healthcare setting
Susan Daynes and Diva Interview
Kelly's Story
Spanish Fork Skilled Companion Team: Kandace, Hal, and Sawyer
Sawyer is 10 years old and has had his canine companion, Hal, for almost 2 ½ years. Hal is a service animal provided by Canine Companions for Independence. For approximately $100, Sawyer, his mom Kandace, and his sister, Erica, spent 2 weeks in California where they were trained on how to manage and utilize a companion dog. They are now a Skilled Companion Team with full public access. Previous to Hal, Sawyer would not sleep in his bed at night, refused dental and doctor visits, could not go to restaurants or movies, struggled on family vacations, was absent from family parties, among other typical Autistic behaviors. Since receiving Hal, Sawyer sleeps in his own bed all night. He is the kid with the cool dog in his mainstream 4th grade classroom, instead of the kid who is weird or different. Sawyer shook hands with over 500 people at Erica’s wedding with Hal at his side in a matching bowtie. He willingly goes to the dentist and doctor since Hal is allowed to ‘visit’ during the examination. Hal rides in his kennel on a special platform Sawyer’s Dad built onto the back of an ATV, so now Sawyer is able to participate in family ATV trips. Sawyer loves to go to CCI fundraisers and awareness events so he can tell strangers what Hal has done for him. He doesn’t always look strangers in the eye, but he will interact with them. Hal’s favorite outing is the movie theater because Sawyer slips him pieces of popcorn. We are truly grateful for CCI and the impact they have had not only on Sawyer, but our entire family. Hal also has a special bond with Rhett, Sawyer’s older brother with Asperger’s Syndrome. We all love that dog, and he has made us complete. We look forward to many new opportunities for Sawyer with Hal at his side.
This story and more can be found in the Wasatch Champions' blog: wasatchchampions.blogspot.com
CCI website: http://www.cci.org
Donation code: 4109
No comments:
Post a Comment