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Strangers' kindness reunite autistic boy, his 2 best friends
Relay brings dogs to Valley
Carrie Watters
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 9, 2005 02:55 PM
People can surprise you, or so the Kuehn family recently discovered when they picked up their Pennsylvania stakes and headed to Phoenix in search of a stronger job market.
Kathy and Jeff Kuehn faced two problems - Daisy, 2, and Trixie, 6.
Their Labrador retriever-mix dogs were therapeutic for their 12-year-old son, Josh, who has autism. They also were too expensive to move across the country.
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The Kuehns regretfully placed an ad in search of a good home for the dogs at AutismLink, an online support site for parents who have children with autism.
What the Kuehns found was far different.
Jenny Webster, a mother of a child with autism, coordinated a nine-state dog relay. Three women, strangers to the Kuehns, traveled cross-country with Daisy and Trixie in tow. People from around the country chipped in money. A Pennsylvania veterinarian came through with tranquilizers, pro bono, when Daisy got too excited along the way. An anonymous truck driver helped Jeff Kuehn when car trouble plagued him on a New Mexico highway during the final leg of the canine odyssey.
All of this, so that when Josh flew to his new home last week, his dogs were there with tails wagging.
"It's just been one good thing after another," Kuehn, a security guard, said from the family's home on West Morten Street.
Webster, home again in Pennsylvania, said she couldn't do otherwise for the child with autism and for the dogs, which likely would have wound up in a shelter.
On July 29, Lenore Wossidlo of Pennsylvania picked up the dogs from the Kuehns former home outside of Pittsburgh.
She then handed the baton, or the dogs, to Webster who drove 28 hours to Oklahoma.
An Albuquerque woman, Jenn Engle, who has a friend with autism, took it from there for the third leg. She met Kuehn in Albuquerque for the home stretch.
"I didn't think twice about it," Wossidlo said. "It was a labor of love."
"I know what consistency and sameness means to someone with autism," said Wossidlo, who also has a son with autism.
The sensory disorder affects Josh's communication and social skills. Routines are important to him. With the calming influence of his pets, he will navigate a new city, climate and this week, attend school at Royal Palm Middle School in Phoenix.
Josh said he hadn't wanted to face losing his dogs. Kathy Kuehn, said she hadn't yet worked out how she would have gotten her son on the airplane if the dogs had been adopted.
"It almost broke my heart totally," said Josh as he repeatedly gave thanks to the kind strangers.
Daisy is his tackle football partner and the more mature Trixie is laid back, he said. Both dogs were in full protective mode of the boy on reunion day.
"I'd be nothing without them. They're like the only ones I can talk to," Josh said.
source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0809phx-dogrelay09-ON.html
Relay brings dogs to Valley
Carrie Watters
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 9, 2005 02:55 PM
People can surprise you, or so the Kuehn family recently discovered when they picked up their Pennsylvania stakes and headed to Phoenix in search of a stronger job market.
Kathy and Jeff Kuehn faced two problems - Daisy, 2, and Trixie, 6.
Their Labrador retriever-mix dogs were therapeutic for their 12-year-old son, Josh, who has autism. They also were too expensive to move across the country.
advertisement
The Kuehns regretfully placed an ad in search of a good home for the dogs at AutismLink, an online support site for parents who have children with autism.
What the Kuehns found was far different.
Jenny Webster, a mother of a child with autism, coordinated a nine-state dog relay. Three women, strangers to the Kuehns, traveled cross-country with Daisy and Trixie in tow. People from around the country chipped in money. A Pennsylvania veterinarian came through with tranquilizers, pro bono, when Daisy got too excited along the way. An anonymous truck driver helped Jeff Kuehn when car trouble plagued him on a New Mexico highway during the final leg of the canine odyssey.
All of this, so that when Josh flew to his new home last week, his dogs were there with tails wagging.
"It's just been one good thing after another," Kuehn, a security guard, said from the family's home on West Morten Street.
Webster, home again in Pennsylvania, said she couldn't do otherwise for the child with autism and for the dogs, which likely would have wound up in a shelter.
On July 29, Lenore Wossidlo of Pennsylvania picked up the dogs from the Kuehns former home outside of Pittsburgh.
She then handed the baton, or the dogs, to Webster who drove 28 hours to Oklahoma.
An Albuquerque woman, Jenn Engle, who has a friend with autism, took it from there for the third leg. She met Kuehn in Albuquerque for the home stretch.
"I didn't think twice about it," Wossidlo said. "It was a labor of love."
"I know what consistency and sameness means to someone with autism," said Wossidlo, who also has a son with autism.
The sensory disorder affects Josh's communication and social skills. Routines are important to him. With the calming influence of his pets, he will navigate a new city, climate and this week, attend school at Royal Palm Middle School in Phoenix.
Josh said he hadn't wanted to face losing his dogs. Kathy Kuehn, said she hadn't yet worked out how she would have gotten her son on the airplane if the dogs had been adopted.
"It almost broke my heart totally," said Josh as he repeatedly gave thanks to the kind strangers.
Daisy is his tackle football partner and the more mature Trixie is laid back, he said. Both dogs were in full protective mode of the boy on reunion day.
"I'd be nothing without them. They're like the only ones I can talk to," Josh said.
source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0809phx-dogrelay09-ON.html