Kylie Patch Service Dog Fundraiser

Hello Friends! Let me introduce you to our daughter, Kylie, a loving, creative, persistent, sensitive, and determined teenager who knows what she wants and needs. Kylie was born hearing, but we started to suspect something wasn't right. Unfortunately, at 15 months, she had an auditory brain response test, and Kylie was profoundly deaf. 

After her trial period with hearing aids, she underwent surgery and received her first cochlear implant at 24 months and her second one at four years old. Her cochlear implants allow her to receive and process sounds and speech. However, these devices don't restore normal hearing. So Kylie needed to be taught what she heard. Enabling her to make sense of the sounds she was hearing and understand speech better.

We knew time was against us, and we had to move quickly. So we found The Moog Center for Deaf Education in St Louis, MO, where deaf children learn to talk. 

Fast forward, Kylie is currently in 12th grade and doing great academically. However, Kylie still struggles with missing words in a sentence, different sounds, fatigue, and anxiety. We suspect she developed her anxiety early, which worsened as she got older. Unfortunately, hearing loss can affect more than just the ability to hear sounds; it can impact the person mentally and emotionally.

After speaking to Kylie and her specialists, we agree that Kylie would benefit from having a service dog. The dog will help her with her anxiety and alert her at college when we are not there to listen for her during the night when she doesn't have her cochlear implants on or when taking a shower.

A service dog can help her in many situations, such as if a fire breaks out, smoke detector, someone knocking at the door, doorbells, alarm clocks, telephone, someone calling her name, police and emergency vehicle sirens, and car horns. The hearing dog will also be trained for her anxiety and will nudge and try calming her down by licking her face, providing a paw, or snuggling with her. 

Kylie would love a hearing dog as she prepares for college. Kylie is very talented in art and loves to draw. She plans to major in animation and storyboarding and minor in film/acting at one of the major art and design schools.

We are asking our family, friends, and community for help funding the service dog's cost. We are working with 4 Paws for Ability. They will be the ones to help get the puppy and train it for two years. Therefore, we need to raise $23,000. All donated funds go directly to them; none of these contributions come to us personally.

Thank you for reading Kylie's story! Our journey has been a long but rewarding one. If you can, donate to help Kylie get a service dog; here are ways you can contribute:

• You can donate here on this site.
• Mail a check directly (when doing this, let them know this donation is for Kylie Patch). You can mail it here... 

207 Dayton Ave Xenia, OH 45385

• Use a credit card and donate directly to 4 Paws (when doing this, please let them know this donation is for Kylie Patch)

https://4pawsforability.org/donate-to-4-paws

Thank you for being so supportive!