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Current and Upcoming Events“Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition” chooses Wilderwood Service Dogs!Maryville, TN January 22, 2010: “Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition” chose Wilderwood Service Dogs to provide service dog for their latest home makeover family. The family that is receiving a home makeover has a child with Prader-Willi Syndrome and had indicated that one of their greatest wishes was to get a service dog for their child, so Extreme Home Makeover started looking for help. Wilderwood has a distinct reputation for being an expert in providing service dogs for all neurological disorders, but we’ve become known for our work with children on the autism spectrum. Although Prader-Willi is not on the autism spectrum, Ethan experiences many issues that can be helped through the use of a service dog. Ethan has anxiety issues and picks his skin obsessively until it bleeds. Cotton is being taught to use his paw to interrupt this action every time Ethan begins picking. Ethan soon will eliminate this behavior all together. Ethan also quits breathing during the night. Even though the family has medical equipment to alert them when Ethan quits breathing, Cotton will be a great backup and will allow Ethan to spend the night at a friend’s house and/or grandparents without having to cart all the medical equipment with him. Ethan also has some muscular issues that affect his walking and standing ability. Cotton has been taught that if Ethan begins to fall to lean into Ethan and roll Ethan over top of himself to prevent Ethan from injuring himself when he falls. Read the “Starkweather Family Returns To A New Home” article. Dogs help with socialization skills for the children. They help with sleeping issues, children who are flight risks, verbalization, reducing, even eliminating stimming behaviors and PICA issues, and much more. “We’re excited that the world is going to find out what we’ve known for a long time, that what happens to a person's soul and then their perception in the presence of a beloved animal is far-reaching. That relationship impacts a person's life more than a therapist, medicine, treatment programs, or all of them combined” says Tiffany Denyer, Founder and Executive Director for Wilderwood. For more information about Wilderwood or if you are interested in volunteering with our program you can contact Elaine Lintner at dognoses1@thelintners.com. Pignapped in the Park, Saturday, June 26, 2010, 1 - 5 pmCove Lake State Park This event features live music, a delicious pig pickin' from Rickard Ridge BBQ, and a motorcycle fun ride. Money raised from this event will be used to train service dogs for children and adults with symptoms related to autism, seizures, and traumatic brain injuries. Wilderwood Service Dogs is the organization providing these animals to thankful parents and children across the country. Nothing compares to the changes that happen to a child with autism when they receive a specially-trained service animal. Many times, the influence of the dog causes mute children to speak, nighttime wanderers to sleep, and self-stimulating behaviors to stop. Over 300 people attended the first annual PIGNAPPED IN THE PARK and we are looking forward to an even bigger turn out this year. We are offering several different sponsorship options which will demonstrate your commitment to a better future for adults and children with autism. We would be honored to have your support for this year's event. For more information, see our flyers: Information Flyer, Sponsorship Information, Sponsorship Form Talk radio WNOX-FM Interview with WilderWood Service Dogs |
The Emmy award winning reality program “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” now in its 7th season, is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It’s executive-produced by Anthony Dominici. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The show airs Sundays from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET on ABC. The show with Wilderwood airs on May 9th. Wilderwood is having an “Airing Party” at Buffalo Wild Wings in Maryville. Festivities will begin at 7:00pm. Buffalo Wild Wings is donating 10% of all the food purchased that night back to Wilderwood.