My daughter J, was diagnosed with ADHD many years ago, but now at 17 she is greatly struggling with her mental health/anxiety. She is particularly having trouble in school. She has been referred for testing for autism. We are thinking perhaps she was misdiagnosed as just having ADHD. Social situations are terrifying for her and are greatly limiting her life currently, as well as limiting what she can see for her future.
She is more open, more social and less fearful when her standard poodle, Missy, is with her. Missy already instinctively provides comfort when J is emotionally disregulated, so I know she would be a perfect psychiatric service dog once she recieves training. I'm hoping this would open her world back up and allow her to reach her full potential! We had her temperament tested by the service dog trainers at Complete Canine and they feel like Missy would be easy to train as her PSD because she is highly intelligent and already so intune with J. The service dog training for Missy would take 6-8 weeks and cost $8,000-$10,000. While this cost is still more than I can come up with at once, it is significantly more affordable than purchasing a fully trained service dog at the cost of $42k! Thank goodness we already have the perfect dog for the job!
We are hoping with proper diagnosis and treatment (and a canine companion), that she may be able to attend college, but currently that is off the table. Is it's heartbreaking that my very gifted daughter is being held back by severe anxiety!! J is very bright (always on the A/B honor) and is a member of the National Honor Society. Before the anxiety took over, she wanted to work in Healthcare. She considered becoming a vet, a nurse (like ME) , or becoming a doctor or psychiatrist. Janie is empathetic and caring. She always wants to help people and animals. She is 100% an animal lover! Due to her overwhelming social anxiety, she is unable to have a "normal" job at this point like many teens do, but she excels as a dog sitter! She enjoys it so much that she says she feels like she should be paying them for letting her hang out with their dogs! She has also volunteered at our local SPCA.
She's a good kid and with your help she can reach her full potential!
I would love to be able to update here with the good news that Missy has been trained and how having a service dog has been life changing for my daughter!
