Helping Dom get social!

My son is my hero. I have watched Dom struggle his entire life with social skills, emotions, friendships, anxiety, physical weakness, and learning disabilities. Despite my screaming for help for years, doctors ignored the warning signs of autism until this year, and we are in the midst of a five-year battle to get the school system to give him the help he needs. While we have been blessed to find a few exceptional teachers along the way, Dom has been bullied for his differences, taken advantage of by peers with ulterior motives, brushed aside because his disabilities aren't disruptive, and benignly neglected by the professionals entrusted to help him flourish.

Through it all, Dom hasn't given up. He has cried, he has screamed, he has at times descended into hopelessness, but he hasn't given up. Despite two stays in a psychiatric hospital last spring because he simply couldn't cope with his differences, he hasn't given up.  Despite the fact that he fully understands something is missing from his life, he hasn't given up.

Dom inspired me to change careers a few years ago to become a special education high school teacher. I am now fortunate enough to have a career with the potential to change kids' lives. The flip side of my dream career is that there simply is no extra money in our budget for any treatments not covered by our insurance. 

Dom desperately needs to learn socialization skills to succeed. He doesn't have friends and doesn't even understand how friendship works, but he craves human connection. We are years behind schedule for social skills treatments because nobody listened to our cries for help, but we need to give him every possible opportunity to live a full life that includes friends.

There is an amazing 12-week program that will help Dom learn social skills, show him how to read others, teach him how to gauge his own emotions and reactions, and demonstrate how to be a friend. He needs this program so much, but we simply can't afford the $3000 cost, and it is not covered by insurance. So far, our GoFundMe donations have enabled me to begin a payment plan for the program. Dom is enrolled, and the program begins in February 2016. I am hoping that you will see the potential in my boy and help me help him.  We have obtained nearly half of the required funds to pay for the entire program!

Your help will change his life, our lives. There are no words to describe exactly how much. Thank you.