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Family Of 11-Year-Old Boy With Autism Reaches Out To Raise Funds For Service Dog

A Santa Clarita family is seeking support from the community to help raise funds to purchase a service dog for 11-year-old Wyatt McLean, who has been diagnosed with autism.


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Bill McLean, Wyatt’s father, said a service dog would provide a unique comfort to Wyatt.

“Wyatt at times has uncontrolled episodes that resemble a panic attack, where he will hit himself in the head and or bite his hands,” Bill McLean said. “We found that other children that have service dogs have seen a reduction in the amount of episodes as the dog can comfort them like a big teddy bear that actually responds to their needs.”

Typically, people with autism have trouble maintaining balance while running. But Wyatt, like many autistic children, still run despite the dangers.

Because the service dog and the owner are tethered together, it curbs the urge to unnecessarily start running.

The dog could also help Wyatt interact more with members of the community, his family said.

“Social interactions can be a challenge for children with autism,” Bill McLean said. “The presence of a service dog will create more interactions with the community, as most are curious about the well-behaved dog in environments that a dog may not normally be allowed. This curiosity creates an opportunity to develop the ability to interact with others that would normally avoid Wyatt.”

Maureen McLean, Wyatt’s mother, said the fundraiser would help the family keep their son safe.  They launched a GoFundMe campaign on May 3, with a goal of $18,000 dollars.

We are currently working to raise money to supply Wyatt with a service dog specialized for autism,” she said. “The primary goal is to keep Wyatt safe by redirecting him away from hazards such as inappropriate wandering or running towards the street.”

Because service dogs are not covered by medical insurance policies, most people in need of the animals can’t afford the cost, which runs in the thousands of dollars due to the training process each dog must go through.

Ry-CON Service Dogs, the nonprofit group the McLean family hopes to buy from, specializes in training dogs to serve individuals diagnosed with autism.

Typically Ry-CON begins training dogs before they are 10 weeks old, preparing the dogs to be comfort animals for children and adults with neurological disorders such as autism and PTSD.

After launching the fundraiser, the McLean family toured the Ry-CON training facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, to get Wyatt acquainted with a service dog similar to the one he may receive.

Since May, the McLean family has been reaching out to the Santa Clarita community for any support available, and have managed to raise just over $2,000 as of the publishing of this article.

Anyone wanting to donate can click here.

For more information about Ry-CON Service Dogs click here.

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Family Of 11-Year-Old Boy With Autism Reaches Out To Raise Funds For Service Dog

11 comments

  1. Medical insurance policies SHOULD have options to cover service dogs for diagnosed medical conditions.

  2. I would recommend Wyatt’s family check with Canine Companions for Independence -http://www.cci.org/about/who-we-are.html
    They provide highly trained service dogs that are given at no charge to the recipient. They prepare dogs that will partner with individuals with developmental disabilities. I raise pups for Guide Dogs of America and a number of our excellent trainers have come from Canine Companions – they are worth a look.

  3. Not for profit that provides service animals for children with autism. We r in the process .
    http://autismservicedogsofamerica.com

    • Ours is a nonprofit organization . Most places I called would not do the curbing, and were twice as expensive to for the dog. I called all the ones that were on the autism speaks website and a bunch more. They were all 2 year waits or would not train the dog to do the tasks that I needed to help my child. And some of them even stopped doing autism service dogs all together. In other words I wish you all the luck in the world on your search for an autism service dog. But this was the only one I found that would do what my son needs. Thank you for letting me know about this group.

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  5. Anyone wanting to deal with this company needs to review this…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD36B85KtFQ

  6. Prayer can be considered a kind of meditation.

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  8. Truly when someone doesn’t know then its up to other viewers that they will help,
    so here it occurs.

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About Gilbert Bernal

Gilbert A. Bernal Jr. has been part of the KHTS video department since Jan 2017. He was hired as video editor in June 2017 after his four-month internship in the video department. While serving as a video intern, his duties were extended to become a multimedia journalist, producing news videos for KHTS News and Features. Gilbert was added to the KHTS team as part of the station’s continued growth and expansion. An Army veteran, father and local artist Gilbert has dedicated time and energy to volunteering at schools in the Santa Clarita Valley. At Pinetree Community Elementary School, in Canyon Country, Gilbert donated art for school auctions, photographed events and painted murals. At Canyon High, he gave two art demonstrations for the “Yes I Can” organization, a peer counseling class that focuses on learning about disabilities, social inclusion, and tolerance. Starting in Feb 2017 Gilbert launched the “KHTS Man On the Street” video features which gather and reports local opinion of Santa Clarita residents on current issues or events. A return student at College of the Canyons since 2014, Gilbert has been apart of the Media Entertainment Arts department working as a college assistant. After enrolling into the film program in 2014, he was hired to work in the camera equipment room (The Cage). There he helps students with film equipment rentals and technical advice. Gilbert received his associates degree in Film Production from College of the Canyons in 2017. He is continuing his educational path and plans to attend CSUN in Fall 2018 to work for a Bachelor's degree in Film.