Bloomington, Indiana Parents on a Mission to Acquire Service Dog For Son with Autism

If seven-year old Tyler Grieb could tell you who his best friend is, he'd probably say, "The stereo." Since fourteen months old, Tyler has lived with a rare neurological condition known as agenesis of the corpus collousm or AAC as well as autism, in which the two hemispheres of his brain are not fused and act independently of one another which makes processing language, forming relationships with peers, and interacting with the world challenging

Tyler's parents, Emily Nehus and Scott Grieb, both musicians have passed their love of music down to Tyler and spent the last seven years using music to help him make sense of the world. In a recent interview with IU Bloomington's newspaper the Indiana Daily Student, Scott said, "The people Tyler interacts most with are musicians: Taylor Swift, The Beatles, James Taylor, etc."

Tyler takes a walk in the woods.

However, Emily and Scott are hoping that a service dog from the Xenia, Ohio based agency 4 Paws For Ability will soon help Tyler interact with more than just his favorite artists. The family has been on a waiting list for about a year and a half and is in the process of raising $13,000 in order to start the year long training process for a dog specific to Tyler's needs. The dog will have responsibilities such as keeping track of Tyler, helping to curb some of his behavioral tendencies caused by autism, providing companionship, comforting him when he is upset, and acting as an icebreaker in social situations allowing Tyler the possibility of more social connections.

His parents are also looking forward to a possible increase in Tyler's verbal ability among other gains. To donate to the fundraiser visit: http://www.4pawsforability.org/dream.html#TylerGrieb