OUR WORK PTSD DOGS: TASKS PTSD DOGS: BENEFITS SEIZURES BLINDNESS DEAFNESS FIRST RESPONDERS

Helping Veterans and Their Children Overcome Blindness

Many veterans and their children face the complex challenge of multiple disabilities—especially when blindness or severe visual impairment is involved. Unlike many service dog organizations that serve only a single disability, our individualized approach supports veterans who must manage more than one challenge. Our tailored solutions help create partnerships that truly work for the veteran, their family, and the service dog.

Our Individualized Approach

Comprehensive Assessment:
Every veteran and family receives a personalized evaluation that considers the severity of the visual impairment along with any additional disabilities. This helps us design a training program that addresses all aspects of the individual’s needs. Rarely does any individual or family have a straightforward and simple life. Whether it's multiple households, pets, work/school commitments, or other circumstances, we find an individualized solution that works for everyone involved.
Collaborative Solutions for Multiple Disabilities:
In some cases, a veteran’s child with an intellectual disability cannot serve as the primary handler. We address this by training the veteran’s parent as a “third-party handler,” ensuring that the service dog can effectively support both the veteran and their child. This collaborative approach creates a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Making a Real Impact

Your donation plays a vital role in transforming lives. Here’s how our program makes a difference:

Enhanced Independence:
Service dogs trained through our program help veterans navigate public spaces safely, perform everyday tasks, and enjoy greater independence. Families report that the presence of a service dog reduces reliance on constant caregiver support.
Improved Quality of Life:
By addressing both blindness and any accompanying disabilities, our dogs offer comprehensive support. This holistic approach not only eases daily challenges but also increases the emotional and social well-being of veterans and their families.
Real-Life Success:
Consider the story of Yorrdan's woman, a former EMT with severe visual impairment. With the help of her service dog, John she regained confidence in navigating busy streets and managing everyday errands. Her renewed independence has brought hope and stability to her entire family—a testament to the life-changing power of our program.

Your Impact as a Donor

When you donate, you’re not just funding a training program; you’re investing in a brighter future for veterans and their families. Every dollar supports:

Specialized Training Programs:
Your contribution helps cover the costs of our comprehensive, individualized training process, at no cost to the veteran.
Ongoing Family Support:
Donations also fund continuous support for families after a service dog is placed. This lifelong assistance ensures that service dogs and their third-party handlers receive regular training updates, access to support groups, and essential resources.
Community Empowerment:
By empowering one veteran at a time, your donation builds stronger, more independent communities. First, their families are helped, then their neighborhoods, then their communities, in a ripple effect that is very powerful.

Join Us in Transforming Lives

We invite you to be part of this transformative mission. Your donation directly funds the training and placement of service dogs that provide more than just mobility—they offer hope, independence, and a better quality of life. Together, we can overcome the challenges of blindness and severe visual impairment for our veterans and their families.

Pawsitivity works with veterans and their children with multiple disabilities, including blindness. Many service dog organizations only work with people who have one disability because circumstances can be quite complicated with multiple disabilities. Pawsitiviity's individualized approach, however, allows us to create a win-win situation with veterans, their families, and the service dog.

For instance, one complication with a service dog is when the veteran's child with an intellectual disability and thus unable to be the handler. In this case, the parent is often the handler, which is called a "third-party handler." We've worked with children who have severe intellectual disabilities and also blindness and helped create a partnership with the service dog, the child, and their parents (the third-party handlers).

Another complication arises when the person with blindness can see somewhat, but they need a service dog for another disability. We can train the service dog to help with their disability and also work around their low-vision disability. This situation creates a situation where they can succeed in their unique circumstance, allowing the person more independence in their everyday lives as well as reducing the demands on their caregivers. Win-win!

Real Stories of Impact

“We never realized that we were invisible until we got our service dog. Suddenly, we were no longer invisible--everyone in town now had a way of communicating with my boy, and just as Tom predicted, the dog served as a 'social bridge. Now my boy is thriving because people love interacting with him, because of his special dog.” – Pawsitivity Testimonial

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