Goal:
USD $15,000
Raised:
USD $675
Campaign funds will be received by Pamela Lauderdale
HELP GET EMERY THE SERVICE DOG THAT WILL HELP HER LIGHT SHINE!
READ HER STORY BELOW :
Emery Renée was born on Nov 22, 2021. She was the most beautiful child we had ever seen. As she grew, she was hitting all the initial milestones. Smiling, laughing, sitting on her own, and making the cutest little sounds. We all enjoyed every little moment with her! Then we started to notice some small things that were changing. She didn't want to crawl. She had no interest in walking on her own. And the biggest ones were no more babbling or eye contact. We all continued as any parents/grandparents would. Worked with her on walking, which she finally did around 15 months!!! We would sit and play with her and her fine motor skills are just amazing!! We slowly started to notice little things that she would do. She's able to make things spin that you wouldn't think would be able to. And she likes to get as close to it as possible. She stopped wanting us to play with her. She did a ton of playing on her own. Not much emotion was shown by her for a while. But you can feel her happiness. She loves hugs and cuddles!! We started doing a lot of research on what we thought it might be while waiting for her appointment with a new pediatrician. All of her behaviors fit. Almost too perfectly. Finally we saw the Dr. Mrs. Robin is amazing. Emery gave her a big hug as soon as she walked into the room. It wasn't long before she agreed with what we thought. Emery was immediately referred to the ARC of Madison County. Her name was officially on the waiting list for the Autism Assessment. She also started speech therapy right away since she was 2 years old with zero words in her vocabulary. We also started working with Early Intervention. I will never forget the day that I was walking her down the stairs after nap, and as usual I was about one step ahead of her holding her hand. I always watched her face. When all of a sudden she looked directly into my eyes! I was overjoyed and scooped her up into my arms and just cried. What a blessing to have that again. It took some time but she now makes eye contact with nearly everyone. With speech therapy in place, she started babbling again. What an amazing sound to hear. Then the call finally came. It was her turn for the assessment. Victoria and I took her in and got to sit in the room while they watched her playing, contact with me and Victoria, how she did/didn't respond to her name, and how she would push them away to get something and walk away to play on her own. We left there knowing it would be up to 3 weeks before the Dr would set up the meeting with me for the results. Until then, we continued doing everything the same. Then it was time for the results. She is officially diagnosed with Autism Level 3 Nonverbal. This hit us hard even though we already knew. However, this also meant that more therapies are available to her. And we are doing as many as possible. She still doesn't respond much to her name. But she's quick to respond to music! She is extremely detailed routine oriented. All the way to which hand is held during each activity throughout the day. And which foot she starts with when going up or down the stairs. She loves tickles and to laugh all day long. Her smiles can melt any heart. Her mom(Victoria) and her dad(Kaleb) are both involved as much as they can be. And her paternal grandmother (Rebekah (MiMi) ) and I are great friends and she helps and spends as much time as possible with Emery. While Emery currently lives with me(Mamére) and Joey(Pawpaw) everyone is collectively doing what is best for Emery. One of the things that has been recommended is a service dog for her. We are blessed with her eye contact and her love for physical touch. As she gets older and bigger, this will become harder to maintain. With the service dog, she will be able to get that deep pressure contact from him. He will also be trained to help soothe her during meltdowns. Which are very different from a typical tantrum. We are doing our best to have the items that will help her the most, however it does start to get expensive. While we do have the option to get a dog that is already trained and would only require us to travel, spend approximately 2 weeks with Emery and ourselves being taught everything, this can cost anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000. If we go the route we currently have planned, we can cut that price down to half and get the dog trained locally. We would also be able to have Emery be an immediate part of the training. This would help her build that very important loving, and cuddling bond she will be able to use for the deep pressure she loves so much! I can't wait to see her just loving on her very own dog that will soothe her so much!! The service dog is our biggest expense at this time. We have found a dog we are interested in getting for her and we have a local trainer that will work with the dog, Emery, and all family to make sure he is trained for her specific needs. Once training is complete he will have his service vest and ID number and will stay by Emery's side everywhere she goes. We are asking from our hearts to yours to please consider donating to keeping Emery's light shining! Your donation will go to helping with the fees for training and any follow-up that might be needed. Anything that might be donated over what those needs are will help continue building her collection of educational, tactile, and sensory items. We pray that you will consider helping our little Emery be the best version of herself and grow her light to shine even brighter!!! God Bless and Thank you!
#TeamEmery
Praying you find the perfect puppy for Emery!
Much love to Emery! (And the Lauderdales)
“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
We love y’all and hope this gets y’all closer to your goal!!! Hugs and kisses!!! 😘 🤗
Hope this helps a bit. We have a pup from a previous litter and she’s a really sweet, affectionate dog. I’m sure yours will be a fantastic fit
January 7th, 2025
We have our puppy!!!!! Thanks to an amazing friend and her family, we were able to get a Great Pyrenees for Emery! His name is Boomer Lauderdale-Pisterzi!
We are doing the initial puppy training ourselves here at the house. So far he's only made a few little messes. Emery is warming up to him nicely!
Now we are focusing on collecting the funds needed for the official training and for him to become an official service dog!!
Please continue to pray for our sweet Emery and consider helping with anything you can!!!
God Bless all of you!!!!
#TeamEmery
November 21st, 2024
We want to thank everyone who has given so far! Your generosity does not go unnoticed!!
We are still attempting to get the funds together for our sweet Emery to get her service dog!
If you'd be willing, a donation and a share would be greatly appreciated!!
We love you all so much!! Please consider helping us make this a reality!
#TeamEmery
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