PawsForRuby - fundraiser for Autism Dogs Charity
Nicki Hinton-Jones is raising money for Autism Dogs Charity
Story
Give Ruby the future she deserves with an assistance dog
14-year-old Ruby has spent most of her life battling with poor mental health, loneliness, overwhelm and prolonged burnout - without knowing why. She was finally diagnosed with autism and ADHD in 2022 and the challenges she has endured and continues to face have been life changing. But Ruby has not and will not give up!
Following a long period of rehabilitation Ruby now attends online school which gives her tremendous access to education but can be very lonely and isolating. Ruby craves social contact and would love to attend college to take her A Levels on the path to one day becoming a vet. Having an assistance dog will give Ruby the support and confidence she needs to make this dream a reality.
We’ve been on a steep learning curve over the last few years, and it’s difficult to convey the extent that daily life has been turned upside down for Ruby as a result of the mental illness caused by unrecognised autism.
Please help us to give Ruby the freedom and opportunities she has missed out on for so long.
Autism Dogs Charity is a fabulous organisation ran by autistic people for autistic people. They have proven that assistance dogs can successfully:
• enable sleep and exercise
• interrupt self-harm
• prevent and manage autistic meltdowns and panic attacks
• supporting access to social settings
• facilitate medical access
• provide deep pressure therapy for anxiety management and emotional regulation
Ruby says:
“An assistance dog would help me to be more independent and confident in myself. As well as to be able to function and do more things I want to do, like be able to go outside more and do things like other people my age. And to always have that someone with me so I don’t feel lonely, because I feel lonely a lot. An assistance dog will make it easier for me to be in public spaces and interact with people more, because I have that support it would mean I can do it. A dog would calm me when I am having an anxiety attack. It would give me something to be focussing on when I’m out and about, so all the noises and things aren’t so ‘at’ me.”
We as a family are so grateful for anything you can give to help Ruby achieve her goals.