Nathan and Sylvia- a Susquehanna Service Dog - have been partners now for almost 7 months. We take them to big crowded stores and malls so regularly now that we sometimes forget what our lives were like just one year ago. The sensory sensitivity that is part of Nathan’s Asperger’s Syndrome made excursions into crowded places intolerable to the point that we simply stopped doing it. We still don’t entirely understand how and why Sylvia’s presence relieves Nathan’s anxiety and sensitivity, but it works so well that we hardly give a second thought to outings now.
For years Nathan’s grandmother wanted to send us to Disney World. Shortly after Nathan and Sylvia passed their public access test, we finally made that trip.
Nathan’s birthday is July 5th, and there we were on July 4th in one of the most crowded places on Earth. After a thoroughly enjoyable day of rides, many of which Sylvia was allowed to ride too, we watched the 4th of July fireworks from a spaceship ride high over the park.
Afterward we made our way back to our cabin though crowds and on various means of public transportation. Midnight struck while we were on a boat on the lake headed back to the campground, and the captain of the boat announced that Nathan had just turned 12. As the passengers on the boat cheered and sang for Nathan, we knew that the joy in his face would not have been possible that day without the help from his loving partner Sylvia.
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