Raising a child with autism is incredibly challenging for parents for a number of reasons, but one of the most difficult parts of it is that autistic children typically do not like being touched in any way. This means that their parents cannot even hold or hug their own children, which is obviously very hard for them.

“They don’t look in people’s eyes, they won’t hug their parents, and they are hypersensitive to touch and sound,” Dr. Anis Contractor said of autistic children.

It is for this reason that Shanna Neihaus was so incredibly touched when her 5 year-old autistic son Kai hugged his service dog Tornado for the first time. Shanna could not believe her eyes when she saw her little boy hug the dog.

“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. We are Americans that live overseas in Japan and have prepared for nearly two years to meet Tornado,” Shanna said as she posted a photo of Kai and Tornado.

Shanna had never seen her son willingly hug anyone before this photo was taken. She was stunned when Kai ran up to hug Tornado the first time he met the dog.

“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,” she said. “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.”

“Any friend. Any kind of connection. She has sat with her son while he has cried at night for months because he has no consistent connections outside of the family, no matter how hard he tries and no matter what he works hard on in his autism therapies,” she explained. “It doesn’t transfer to the natural occurring world for him. And now she is sitting behind her son silently watching this moment, with the air sucked from her lungs, and no words to say.”

Seeing Kai with Tornado gave Shanna hope for her son’s future, as she could see he really is making huge strides. This was overwhelming for the mother, since she could see that all of the effort she had put in to help her son was paying off!

“It’s worth every fight for services for my son, every diagnosis, every new provider, every dollar spent, every paper filled out, every school meeting, every shed tear, every step forward, every step back, and every wonder of the unknown future,” Shanna said. “Somehow because of this — because of Tornado — I know everything will be okay. As a mother, I have seen countless challenging and painful moments my son has encountered and cried countless more. Yesterday, however, I cried for a different reason. It is a feeling that is indescribable.”

The power of dogs truly is incredible! Find out more about this story in the video below, and be sure to SHARE it so your friends and family can see it as well!