The girl had severe anxiety and a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which triggered several raging tantrums a day.īut not long after she got her dog, she agreed to go watch a basketball game. One of the best examples of this is Greene’s description of a father with his daughter at a basketball game. They are no longer burdened trying to anticipate their child’s next tantrum.

Or can take their kids with them on simple errands. They can sleep through the night, some for the first time in years. Throughout the book, Greene combines Shirk’s story with unflinching accounts of how her service dogs broke down the walls around disabled kids and helped them take a more active role in the world around them.īut Greene makes the book even more compelling by examining the impact these dogs have on the parents of disabled kids.įor the first time in years, they can go on family walks.

Book Examines Impacts on Parents and Disabled Kids Not wanting others to have similar problems finding a service dogs, she started the nonprofit 4 Paws for Ability to train rescued shelter dogs to place with kids suffering from severe disabilities. Undeterred, she got a dog herself and found a trainer to help her teach him to be a service dog. It had weakened her muscles to the point where daily tasks felt insurmountable.Īf she decided to get a service dog, she learned agencies wouldn’t place mobility dogs with respiratory-dependent people. Shirk has a rare neuromuscular disease called myasthenia gravis (MG).

The Underdogs by Melissa Fay Greene