Shanna Niehaus and her family were living abroad in Japan when her 4-year-old son Kai was diagnosed with autism.

By the time he was 5, he resisted any kind of physical touch, had issues with social relationships, sensory overload that was easy to trigger, and exhibited some “less than desirable” behavior. But at the very least, he had always been interested in animals.

In 2016, the Niehaus family raised $15,000 for a return trip to the States to see to the end a journey Kai’s parents had embarked upon (no pun intended) when they were trying to find ways to help their son cope.

They had contacted an Ohio organization called 4 Paws for Ability, which places service dogs with children who have disabilities (as well as veterans who have lost their hearing or the use of their limbs).

After a long wait, Kai’s dog had been fully trained and the family was ready to meet “Tornado.”

As you might imagine, it was an incredibly emotional moment for his mother. It was just one more situation beyond her control.

After all of her planning, all of the behavior she had seen, the future that she wanted for Kai, and how it became wrapped up in the success of this relationship with his new dog – how would it actually go?

Better than she could have ever imagined.

Her months of fundraising, research, and worrying (not to mention mothering a child who abhorred physical contact, but whom she loved so deeply) were rewarded the moment the two new friends met.

She recounted the event for Love What Matters and included this photo, saying:

“See this moment? I’ve never experienced a moment like this. Yesterday was the first day my 5-year-old autistic son met his new autism service dog, Tornado.”

Niehaus continued painting the emotional picture alongside the visible one:

“This picture captures the face of a mother who saw her child, who she can’t hug, wash, dress, snuggle and touch freely, lay on his new service dog of his own free will, with a purposeful, unspoken attachment. This is the face of a mom who has seen her son experience countless failed social interactions on the playground in an attempt to have a friend…

And now she is sitting behind her son silently watching this moment, with the air sucked from her lungs, and no words to say.”

The moment Kai met Tornado was the moment his mother saw him make his first social connection beyond his parents.

She told USA Today:

“Kai, on his own accord, laid on Tornado and felt his heartbeat. He laid on top of him which is a sensory thing. I was so taken aback and I was so flooded, how real and how raw and the significance of this really overwhelmed me. I couldn’t believe what I had hoped would happen was actually happening.”

Revealing just how much of herself she had to suppress around Kai, the journalist mentioned that she began to cry when she explained the moment but had to stifle herself with her hand. She couldn’t leave Kai alone but she couldn’t distract him with her tears.

But now she was seeing Kai’s way forward and her tears were undoubtedly (at least partly) ones of happiness and relief.

Kai interacted, he shared, he cared, he didn’t mind Tornado’s touch. The dog who had been specially trained for him was bringing out the best in him and it was a rare parenting win.

Now his mom knew he would be able to share the love she always knew he had in his heart with someone else.

“He’s wanted to give and share and receive from someone else, and Tornado was the avenue that unlocked it.”

To see photos and clips from those first, beautiful moments, be sure to scroll down below.

In an update via Facebook, Shanna Niehaus reported that the family had such a great experience with the 4 Paws for Ability organization that they even later adopted one of its “flunkies,” Touché, who was not able to complete the training. So Kai is growing up in a house full of the animals he loves so much.

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Source: Love What Matters, USA Today, The Mighty, Humankind via Facebook