Meet Lonnie, a fun, loving 4-year-old. Lonnie’s life has been an uphill battle since birth. He and his twin brother were born at 28 weeks. Lonnie, which means “ready for battle”, is the perfect name for him. He spent 83 days in the NICU before being discharged and from there he endured constant doctors' appointments for his first 2 years. Lonnie saw speech, occupational and physical therapist, neurologist, cardiologist and follow up appointments with NICU doctors. There was always a concern for developmental delays, but it wasn’t until a neurology appointment after his 1st birthday when Autism became a concern. Finally, on his 3rd birthday he was officially diagnosed. Lonnie is non-verbal and continues to have speech therapy. We (his parents) feel like he is on the verge of talking. Lonnie has been attending preschool since the age of 3 and has made leaps and bounds. Lonnie knows no stranger; he finds a friend in everyone. He loves giving hugs and most recently high fives and fist bumps. Most of the time you can find him doing a puzzle, or playing with blocks, magna tiles, and trucks.

Despite Lonnie being non-verbal it doesn’t stop him from singing songs and counting. Currently his favorite song to sing is “C is for cookie”. Although he can sing and count, he is unable to let us know what he wants and needs which brings frustration on both him and us. We hope that a dog will help Lonnie with these frustrating moments and can bring him comfort.

Lonnie loves playing outdoors, camping, and going to horse shows. While doing these fun activities Lonnie usually finds something he wants elsewhere which causes him to leave us without notice. In addition to us, we hope a service dog would be an added line of protection should Lonnie run off.

We started researching service dogs after watching him with our current dog who he loves to find comfort in. After reading the monumental benefits an especially trained service dog can provide a child with autism, we knew we needed to start the process to get him one. A service dog will provide Lonnie with so much from companionship to keeping him safe. A service dog would be another set of eyes to ensure his safety when doing outdoor activities outside the home, and just as critical a partner to help him navigate through life and help him continue to make leaps and bounds.

You can also mail a check or money order to:

W.A.G.S. 4 Kids, 112 East Center Street, Berea, OH 44017

Please make a memo that your donation is for Lonnie