Joey’s mom gushed, “It was beautiful just to watch him with her — watch him being able to connect with somebody”.
Joey was diagnosed with high functioning autism, or Asperger syndrome, at the age of 7, but he didn’t really understand until he was in the sixth grade. For Joey, being social and making friends were not easy tasks and often lead to feelings of loneliness. Being autistic was especially tough on him.
One day, Joey asked his mom for a dog. It didn’t take long for her to spot a Facebook post for Best Friends Animal Shelter. That’s where Joey’s mom found a young pit bull named Roxy and brought her home.
“When she came in the room, she completely walked past my mom and jumped onto my lap”, Joey recalled. “Roxy just changed my life.”
With the unconditional love of a dog, Joey learned how to connect with people and even show affection. He has started asking his mom for hugs and kisses, gestures that Joey had never made before.
Joey is more social than ever, and he thanks Roxy for his newfound ability to be “great with people.”
Out of all the things that Roxy did for Joey, he is mostly appreciative that, “She’s opened my heart up a lot more.”
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