Nate is only 10 years old and suffers with shockingly low self-esteem and depression. As his parents, we watch him struggle to fit in socially and see him get overwhelmed with periods of rage and sadness when he feels misunderstood and left out. Meltdowns are common place and stressful for our entire family. Nate has been in therapy for years learning different methods to break the cycle of rage/depression/low self-esteem. Even though there has been improvement there is still a long way to go. We are on a waiting list for a service dog but before we can get a service dog we are required to have a fence. The fence will not only provide the ability to obtain the service dog, but will also help provide safety for Nate who has eloped from our home on several occasions. Twice we could not find him and had to call the police for assistance.
At 18 months old, we began to be concerned by his behavior and development. When Nate turned two years old, we started going to different pediatrician and psychologist offices asking about Autism and trying to figure out what was going on. At that time, the doctors did not feel Nate had enough symptoms of Autism to warrant testing. At three years old, Nate received his first of several diagnoses which was Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). In kindergarten, he also was diagnosed with ADHD. By the middle of his second grade year, school had become too difficult with Nate’s symptoms of defiance and rages. At this point we chose to remove Nate from the public school system and began to homeschool. In the spring of 2017, Nate had to be hospitalized twice in the Psychiatric Unit at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, where he received two more diagnoses. In May we started the paperwork for Nate to be tested for Autism. In October, he was evaluated and diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
The men’s mission group at our church has volunteered to provide the labor for our fence so all we have left is to provide the materials. This is where we really need your help. We just suffered a huge setback… We were a one income family that has just went to no income due to a job loss. We can use your prayers and assistance.
Campaign was successfully completed on 04/09/2018!
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