Our son, Mackenzie, is a 10 year old who is bright, active and loves life. He enjoys being in activities with other children, electronic games and going on outings.
Mackenzie was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old. Unfortunately, the autism has caused him to have very limited verbal communication and behaviour issues that can be unpredictable and difficult to manage.
One behaviour is bolting away either from home, school or on outings. He will wait until no one is looking then bolt away and be gone in seconds. This behaviour is common in children with autism and is a very serious safety issue. This means that he has to be supervised constantly wherever he is. As it causes a great deal of stress, family outings are limited.
Another behaviour for Mackenzie is sleep disturbance which is also common in autism. He sleeps well for about the first four hours but then his sleep is restless until morning. It then creates sleep disturbance for family members.
We are very fortunate that Mackenzie enjoys being with others especially children his own age. But as the autism causes his communication and behaviours to be inappropriate it is difficult for others to understand. So he does not have friends his own age as other children.
This dog would greatly help with our safety issue by physically stopping Mackenzie from bolting. As the dog would attract other children, it would help Mackenzie, hopefully, gain understanding and friendship. It would become his companion and give him comfort at night when he is restless. Also, Mackenzie would be responsible for the daily care of the dog and provide him with more independent life skills.
