Sarah Gregory arms herself with knowledge to better understand her 4-year-old son, Jonah, who has autism.
Her research has led her to acquire a service dog specializing in autism for Jonah, even though the trained animal comes with a price tag of $40,000 to $60,000.
“I have always felt that the best thing that I can do in any situation that I go into without knowing is just to arm myself with knowledge,” Gregory said. “So, I have read, studied, and searched for every possible resource I could.”
Jonah was evaluated at Children’s Hospital at around 18 months old, and Gregory said the diagnosis came back that he had a global developmental delay and autism.
“We were like, ‘What, he’s only 18 months old. I don’t know if we’re ready to accept that,'” Gregory said. “Let’s just give it some time.”
Gregory said Jonah was not speaking and had “extreme bouts of overwhelm” that seemed above a toddler tantrum. She said he would never partake in imaginative play or play with other children.
“He has an older sibling and a younger sibling, so we kind of knew what was coming in terms of the tantrums, but everything just seemed different,” Gregory said.
That diagnosis was reconfirmed around his 3rd birthday.
“The reality is this world was not created by neurodiverse people,” Gregory said. “This world was created by neurotypical people, and the society in the world that we have created is so alien to people whose brains don’t work in that neurotypical way.”
Gregory said her tipping point for looking into a service dog for Jonah was twofold. The first reason Gregory said was that last year, there were multiple cases of children with autism wandering away from their home, which she said is called “elopement,” and then drowned in swimming pools.
“My son Jonah loves the water, but it is not in his wheelhouse to be taught how to swim,” Gregory said. “He has absolutely no understanding of danger or things that can hurt him. He just doesn’t understand. And furthermore, probably less than 75% of the time, he responds to his name.”
She said the second reason came from a recommendation from a parent during a group therapy session for parents with special needs children. Gregory said she started researching and discovered 4 Paws for Ability, a service dog training facility in Xenia, Ohio. Â
“I discovered how cutting edge and top of the market they are for the way that they raise and train their animals,” Gregory said. “They have specific skill sets and tasks for dogs who have autistic handlers or for a parent who’s the handler for an autistic person, and I just think of it as another tool in the toolbox for my son because he already struggled so much.”
Gregory said 4 Paws requires that each handler do a nine-day in-person training with their dog before they can graduate from the program. She said Jonah would not receive his dog for roughly two years.
Further, Gregory said Jonah would receive a placement within their facility a month before they meet the dog because 4 Paws matches the dogs with families to address their needs specifically.
“I don’t know where he’s going to be in two years, but at this point, he would not be able to handle his own service dog,” Gregory said. “So, we would have what is called a three-person team where it would be the dog Jonah and then either me or my husband.”
4 Paws covers most of the payment but requires the family to pay $20,000.
“I knew from experience that these were elite animals, but I don’t think I quite understood that they were $60,000,” Gregory said. “I mean, that is a staggering number to see on paper.”
The Gregorys are raising donations to go toward the $20,000 cost of the dog. They have already raised around $9,000.
“We are so gratified and absolutely astounded at the response we’ve already had,” she said.
