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North Stafford family is trying to raise money for a service dog to help their son, who's had three serious seizures in 18 months Date published: 1/22/2010
By CATHY DYSON After her son had his third serious seizure in 18 months, Caitlin Howell decided she couldn't sit around and wait for the next one. The thought of what might happen if 4-year-old Joshua had a grand mal seizure at night, when she and her husband, Army Maj. Jeff Howell, were asleep, was too much to bear. Joshua has dozens of petit mal seizures daily, during which he stares into space for a few minutes. But during the more violent grand mals, he blacks out, has convulsions and vomits. "If he has a seizure at night," Caitlin said, tears welling up in her eyes, "he's going to drown." The North Stafford mother started scouring the Internet for ways to help her son, who is epileptic and high-functioning autistic. She decided that a service dog would give Joshua the protection he needs and his parents the peace of mind they crave. "It breaks my heart that he can't go play in his playroom like a normal kid and be by himself for 15 minutes," she said. "But I'm terrified that he's going to have another seizure, and no one's going to be there with him." A service dog would be Joshua's constant companion--and be trained to alert his parents if a seizure is coming. The dog also would help Joshua get into a safe place and keep him there until he recovers. What Caitlin Howell liked most about the idea was that the dog would push Joshua on his side during a seizure to keep his airways open. "That sold me," she said. Some dogs have an innate ability to sense a seizure, said Jon Sabin, owner of Seizure Alert Dogs for Life. Researchers believe there's a change in a person's behavior or scent that signals an oncoming episode. Other dogs can be trained to detect the changes, said Sabin, who lives in New York. Sabin also suffers from epilepsy and gets several hundred calls and e-mails daily from people with situations as desperate as Joshua's. He can't help them all, but he said he agreed to work with the Howells because they recognize a service animal will become a four-legged member of the family who will be with Joshua around the clock. Some people think they can leave the service dog in the backyard when they go shopping or out to eat.
Date published: 1/22/2010
we really need Speaker Howell and Sen Houcke to jump in and get the state to make insurance companies provide coverage for autism and service dogs. People don't realize that ABA and acquiring these dogs take up the majority of a regular families' income. Nobody wants to know how much I spend on ABA for my autistic son. It's ridiculous, but if he leads a somewhat normal life when he is older, it will make it that much more bearable. I am sorry about the seizures, it must be terrifying for all of you.
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