From Jo, Chloes mum...
My name is Jo and this is the story of me and my beautiful daughter Chloe. Chloe was born via emergency caesarean section in June 2001. As I woke in recovery, the first thing I asked the nurse was “what did I have?". I spent most of my pregnancy praying for a girl as I looked at the multitude of boys in our family so I was very happy when she told me I had a baby girl. The nurses at the hospital adored her and enjoyed dressing her as a fairy princess on a daily basis.
Like most babies she cried ALOT and had problems with reflux from the beginning which caused her to cry that much more. She hardly ever slept and she never reached that magical age where they sleep through the night. By age 2 she was highly emotional, self harming and still not sleeping.
I have a relative with a child who has autism and I could see that Chloe was showing the same signs as he did when he was her age. So began the visits to paediatricians, early intervention services, psychologists and therapists. At age 4, it was discovered that Chloe had Obstructed Sleep Apnoea and was not breathing sufficiently when she was asleep which was the reason she was night waking. Just after Chloe's 5th Birthday she had surgery to correct this problem. The surgery was successful and everyone was hoping that Chloe's difficulties were related to lack of sleep. Within two months of the operation Chloe began to sleep the whole way through the night which was fantastic.
Unfortunately, Chloe began to become further withdrawn from human contact and would become aggressive towards most people who would try to enter into the cocoon she had built herself around. At age 5 Chloe was diagnosed with Autism.
Since that time after much investigation and assessment it has also been found that she suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and an Anxiety disorder as well as Autism. After a number of failed attempts in Mainstream schools, she was placed on medication and is now in a support unit for children with Autism.
I am so proud of her every day as I watch her struggle to learn skills that we all take for granted. Chloe has always had a passion for animals and has always seen them as her friends from the cute and cuddly to the not so cute and cuddly. She is passionate about wildlife and conservation of habitat. She is my own little “Wildlife Warrior" She loves butterflies and fairies and wants to be a princess.
The last year has been a difficult one for Chloe. The older she gets the more she realises that she is different and is now at the age where she is teased for her differences. She asks me often if she will always be like this. It has been a year where Chloe needs a friend that will not judge her and will love her no matter what so I began to look for a dog for Chloe. One of our closest friends is very allergic to dog hair and suffers from anaphylaxis so I started to do research online and that’s when I found this website and got in touch with Adele and Adam who offered us a puppy.
On the day we went to meet Adele and Adam we were greeted by many happy and loved dogs and two wonderful people. Chloe came out of her cocoon quite quickly and took turns walking the dogs around the property on a lead. The puppies were all gorgeous and beautiful natured, it was beautiful to watch Chloe so in her element. After Chloe and the puppy picked each other it was time to go. As we were leaving, Chloe turned to me and said “Mummy, that was the best day of my whole life". I am so looking forward to Chloe having her new best friend and all the therapeutic benefits that will come from that.
This puppy will give Chloe a new lease on life and will bring her comfort in a world that she often finds confusing and that she often feels out of place in.
Like most babies she cried ALOT and had problems with reflux from the beginning which caused her to cry that much more. She hardly ever slept and she never reached that magical age where they sleep through the night. By age 2 she was highly emotional, self harming and still not sleeping.
I have a relative with a child who has autism and I could see that Chloe was showing the same signs as he did when he was her age. So began the visits to paediatricians, early intervention services, psychologists and therapists. At age 4, it was discovered that Chloe had Obstructed Sleep Apnoea and was not breathing sufficiently when she was asleep which was the reason she was night waking. Just after Chloe's 5th Birthday she had surgery to correct this problem. The surgery was successful and everyone was hoping that Chloe's difficulties were related to lack of sleep. Within two months of the operation Chloe began to sleep the whole way through the night which was fantastic.
Unfortunately, Chloe began to become further withdrawn from human contact and would become aggressive towards most people who would try to enter into the cocoon she had built herself around. At age 5 Chloe was diagnosed with Autism.
Since that time after much investigation and assessment it has also been found that she suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder and an Anxiety disorder as well as Autism. After a number of failed attempts in Mainstream schools, she was placed on medication and is now in a support unit for children with Autism.
I am so proud of her every day as I watch her struggle to learn skills that we all take for granted. Chloe has always had a passion for animals and has always seen them as her friends from the cute and cuddly to the not so cute and cuddly. She is passionate about wildlife and conservation of habitat. She is my own little “Wildlife Warrior" She loves butterflies and fairies and wants to be a princess.
The last year has been a difficult one for Chloe. The older she gets the more she realises that she is different and is now at the age where she is teased for her differences. She asks me often if she will always be like this. It has been a year where Chloe needs a friend that will not judge her and will love her no matter what so I began to look for a dog for Chloe. One of our closest friends is very allergic to dog hair and suffers from anaphylaxis so I started to do research online and that’s when I found this website and got in touch with Adele and Adam who offered us a puppy.
On the day we went to meet Adele and Adam we were greeted by many happy and loved dogs and two wonderful people. Chloe came out of her cocoon quite quickly and took turns walking the dogs around the property on a lead. The puppies were all gorgeous and beautiful natured, it was beautiful to watch Chloe so in her element. After Chloe and the puppy picked each other it was time to go. As we were leaving, Chloe turned to me and said “Mummy, that was the best day of my whole life". I am so looking forward to Chloe having her new best friend and all the therapeutic benefits that will come from that.
This puppy will give Chloe a new lease on life and will bring her comfort in a world that she often finds confusing and that she often feels out of place in.
