published: Saturday, February 05, 2011

Singing to communicate

Family dog helps autistic daughter

EUSTIS — Regina Ross-Schmid breaks out singing in order to get into her autistic daughter’s world.

“Sing, sing a song. Sing out loud, sing out strong. Sing of good things not bad, sing of happy not sad,” the mother croons as Kathryn, 5, quickly turns around. The little girl with big brown eyes happily joins in singing the second verse: “Sing, sing a song. Make it simple to last your whole life long. Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing, sing a song.”

“That is her favorite song and she will sing it all day long,” Regina said Sunday, while she and her daughter were at the Omega Zone in Eustis for a “4 Paws 4 Kathryn” fundraiser.

The family is working with 4 Paws for Ability, a nonprofit organization that specializes in providing certified service animals for children with disabilities. The dogs are trained in sign language.

“4 Paws for Ability has agreed to provide my daughter with a trained autism service dog in exchange for our raising $13,000 for them,” said Regina, a former Eustis resident who now resides in Fort Stewart, Ga., while her husband is deployed in Iraq with the U.S. Army. “And we are here to spread awareness about autism because so many people don’t know about it.”

Regina admits she didn’t know much about autism before her daughter was diagnosed before her third birthday. one of every 150 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with the complex lifelong developmental disorder that impacts all aspect of a child’s life. Signs and symptoms often appear before a child is 3, and the most profound effect of the disorder is how it impairs a child’s ability to communicate and interact with the world around them.

“I would tell other parents just receiving a diagnosis to learn all you can and learn from those that have autistic children,” she said. Looking back, Regina remembers her daughter didn’t make eye contact as a baby.

“She lives in her own little bubble,” Regina said. “I’ve had to learn now to parent all over again. It’s mostly getting down to her level and learning how she learns, and it has been more of an education for me. I try to build off of her strengths. Kathryn loves music and she also gravitates towards dogs. If she sees a dog, she goes up and loves it and hugs it.”

The family believes a service dog will help them in keeping an eye on Kathryn, who has no fear or any concept of danger.

“4 Paws for Ability dogs are amazing because they are also trained in search and rescue,” Regina said. “Kathryn is an escape artist. She has learned how to get through every lock and it terrifies me. We don’t sleep well at night because I am always constantly checking everything, and the service dog will be able to alert us if she gets up or goes outside.”

The child knows all her ABC’s, she can count to 20 and even recognize a few words by sight rather than picture. However, she is mostly non-verbal. with the help of her special school, Regina said her daughter is getting better at using words, yet they aren’t always used appropriately. Kathryn spends most of her time repeating her favorite song.

“My mom is really a strong person who is there for my sister,” said Elizabeth Willis, 22, the oldest of Regina’s four children, who also has been working behind the scenes in helping to raise funds for a service dog for her little sister.

“Having an autism service dog will help Kathryn be able to allow someone into her bubble that understands her world and doesn’t judge her or force their world on her,” Regina said. “She needs a dog that will just love her and be her best friend.”