I've been part of this community for a really long time and I've pretty much always kept my personal life very private... This time I'm opening up because it's for my daughter's sake and health... I've not talked about it, but when my daughter Aeris turned 2 she was officially diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder and OCD. One of these by itself at her age makes things tough but combined they have made every day life a struggle for her.
Don't get me wrong, many days are great and amazing and even the rough days I would never trade for anything because she truly has been a blessing for my wife and I as we weren't sure we'd ever really be able to have kids.
Anyway Fast Forward two years and my daughter is about to turn 4 and here I am asking for help from this wonderful community. Again I would normally just keep private about all this but I don't think I'll get much support from my family and we are in no contact with my wife's family for other reasons. If you don't know much about Autism you're not alone... It's a spectrum disorder and every child is different. In my daughter's case, coupled with the sensory issues she has, she tends to have extreme and often times violent meltdowns where she is 100% out of control of her actions.
The other day Aeris experienced an especially violent and intense meltdown, resulting in a laceration to her gums and three chipped teeth. The following day, she came down with the stomach flu and threw up for 24 hours straight. Between the bacteria and injury, her gums became abscessed, and she is currently on antibiotics before any work can be completed. Because her teeth have been chipped so severely, and it has caused such bad trauma to the gums as a result of an infection, the dentist (who specializes in treating children with disabilities) feels it is in her best interest to remove her 4 front teeth to avoid any potential for future complication. Because of her Autism and Sensory issues, she cannot just be numbed or have an in office fix. She needs to be put under anesthesia in an OR setting at our local CHOA. After speaking with the Doctor at length, our goal is to avoid another operation in the future and complete all work in one surgery to also prevent any more sensory issues as well.
I have good insurance and a good job but even with all that, it's still going to be a bit tough for us financially which is why we set up a GoFundMe page. With her therapy and everything we need to do for her on a regular basis, money is always a concern but we always make it work. This time we are hoping to get a little help from family and friends especially given how close this is all happening to the Holidays. We aren't asking for a lot and again I normally wouldn't even ask this community for help because this community has given me so much joy over the years already but like I said, this is for my daughter's health and that's more important than anything to me.
So if you feel at all inclined, please feel free to stop by her GoFundMe and help us out a little or just feel free to re-post, tweet, etc... so this gets out to a wider audience.
Thank you so much for any and all help or even just a
or 
Sincerely,
Jason (AKA Belyal)
