Service dog would give 8-year-old newfound independence

MEADOW LAKES — In many ways, Willie Koonce is like most other 8-year-olds. He loves music (Lady Gaga is a favorite), television, swimming and jumping on the trampoline.

That he’s fed through a tube and can’t verbally communicate doesn’t slow down the Meadow Lakes Elementary student. Affected by Down syndrome and autism, Willie can’t tell his family or teachers what he’s feeling and can become frustrated.

“At the same time, he’s a normal 8-year-old boy in so many respects,” said his mother, Carmi Koonce. “In so many ways, he’s just a regular little boy. He’s happy in his own little world. I would like to see him be able to increase his independence. He wants to go run and play, and he wants to do things and he doesn’t want to have to hold mommy’s hand everywhere he goes. But because of his other issues, most of that has been denied him.”

If she and husband Joel have their way, Willie may have more freedom to be a kid. The family is raising money to get him a service dog, a companion specially trained to help soothe his mood swings, frustrations and even track him down when Willie wanders off.

“The big thing (with a service dog) is the tracking,” Carmi said. “He’s such a wanderer. He has no sense of safety. He’s not trying to be naughty, he just doesn’t understand those boundaries are even there.”

With a service dog, he can be tethered to the animal.

“For instance, taking him to the grocery store is a big challenge,” she said. “You have to wrestle him into a shopping cart if you want to know where he is, and he’s (getting to be) a big kid. It’s scary in parking lots. While I’m loading groceries, I can’t trust he’s going to stand right there while I grab something out of the cart. He’s just gone.”

Like most other 8-year-old boys, Willie wants his independence, his mother said. He doesn’t want to hold mommy’s hand all the time; he wants to explore. Should he momentarily, disappear, a service dog is trained to track him down as well.

“I’ve had more than one panicked moment in the mall or here at home, where you turn your back for a second and he’s gone,” Carmi said.

Ohio-based 4 Paws For Ability trains service dogs specially to work with children, Carmi said. Instead of simply purchasing a dog, the family raises funds and solicits donations directly to 4 Paws For Ability in Willie’s name. And when donations reach $13,000, they family gets a dog. The family hosted a viewing of the classic film “Mary Poppins” on Saturday and will likely hold other fund-raisers, she said.

In addition to helping Willie’s everyday independence, a service dog will be especially helpful for him at school. Willie attends special education classes at Meadow Lakes Elementary, and while the school’s staff members have been great to him and his family, Willie’s inability to verbally communicate can cause frustrations in the classroom.

“He is in a great school. I’ve been very happy with Meadow Lakes. They’ve treated him very well,” Carmi said. “But every year, it’s a different room, even mid-year he has different aides, different people caring for him and he doesn’t bond with people very well. Since he’s non-verbal, he can’t just say, ‘I have a stomach ache’ or ‘I have a headache.’ It’s frustrating for him, it’s emotionally traumatic and he ends up with meltdowns out of frustration.”

Service dogs can sense those tense and frustrating emotions and are trained to defuse the situation and calm the child, she said.

“Having the continuity of a dog friend at school will help a lot,” Carmi said. “The dogs are also trained in what’s called ‘behavior disruption,’ so when a kid is ready to go into meltdown mode, the dog senses that and has certain behaviors they do … that calms him down.”

There are times Willie will come home from school with a note from his teacher saying he had a bad day.

“It breaks my heart when I get those notes,” Carmi said. “And he’s got a big old goose-egg on his forehead from beating his head on the floor in frustration.”

Animal magnetism

A service animal also makes sense for the Koonce family, Carmi said. They already have two dogs, two cats a guinea pig and a canary. Those pets also exhibit a special patience with Willie. In fact, she and husband Joel used to joke about tethering Willie to a dog. About a year ago, it became clear that could actually be a viable solution to some of his problems.

“A year of so ago, Lance Mackey’s mom, Kathie, was one of his aides in school, and she brought it up to me,” Carmi said. “She said Willie would really do good with a service dog. Up until recently, they only placed dogs with adults, but there are a few agencies now that train dogs for children.”

The dog will also help take some of the pressure off Willie’s three siblings, who perform extra chores and babysitting.

“We all love Willie, but sometimes it’s harder because he doesn’t like to listen to us because we’re his bossy siblings,” said his oldest sister, Kassi, 15. “Babysitting him or taking him to the store gets kind of complicated.”

Because Kassi’s the oldest of the family’s four children — Jonah, 13, and Breena, 7, round out the roster — she is often tasked with extra babysitting, Carmi said.

“They all take good care of Willie, and although they don’t complain about it, they do more chores and more than their fare share of helping out,” she said.

But as Willie grows older, he becomes more of a challenge to watch in public, Kassi said.

“In stores, if I have to watch him, he’ll let go of my hand and start running,” she said. “He won’t listen and it gets kind of hard. He’s pretty fast.”

She admits that when she was younger, she used to wonder what it would be like if her brother didn’t have his special challenges.

“I remember not wanting him to have Down syndrome and being kind of upset,” Kassi said. “But we’ve gotten used to it and we all have to help and pitch in because Willie’s special. I think (a service dog) will give him some boundaries and make it easier for him to do stuff and make our jobs easier to take him to the mall and stuff.”

For the most part, Willie blends in with the rest of the family, father Joel said.

“He’s just part of the crew, one of the kids,” he said, while Willie sat in his lap reaching for one of the family cats. “He just blends right in, he’s just part of the family.”

Saturday’s fund-raiser was the first of several the family plans to organize, Carmi said. Details of others haven’t been worked out yet, but anyone interesting in learning more about Willie or how to donate in his name to 4 Paws For Ability can visit Willie’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/4pawsforwillie.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.