Fundraiser To Help Pay For Woodbury 3-Year-Old's Service Dog

When Nathan Spielman was born, his musculature was visibly underdeveloped, his eyelids drooped, and his adducted thumbs turned in on his palms.

Doctors said these symptoms were consistent with a genetic syndrome, but not one they could readily diagnose.

For years a parade of specialists—neurologists, orthopedists, geneticists, and more—found themselves stumped by Nathan’s symptoms while his parents worried that his symptoms could fatally worsen.

But in August, just before his third birthday, Nathan was diagnosed with Multiminicore Disease, a rare genetic condition that weakens all muscular tissue. While his cognition is unaffected, Nathan talks slowly, moves slowly, and chews slowly. If he trips on the playground, he can’t count on his arms to break his fall.

But at the time of his diagnosis, Nathan’s family already knew all this, and obtaining medical certainty eased their anguish.

“It was an extreme relief to get the diagnosis,” said his mother, Kristen. “We had lived with the unknown for so long, not knowing that it’s something that will take his life. He’ll never be quote-unquote ‘normal,’ but what he has won’t get progressively worse.”

A diagnosis has also qualified Nathan for additional avenues of aid to supplement the physical, occupational and speech therapy he has already been receiving.

His family is currently raising money to train a service-dog to help Nathan navigate his environment and protect him from injuries.

The dog will cost $25,000 to train and it will be a constant companion for Nathan, responding to commands such as “Take it” to fetch specific named objects and “Tug it” to help Nathan undress. It will likely be a golden retriever, a lab, or a golden lab mix.

“Nathan’s super excited,” Kristen Spielman said. “He saw a picture of a lab the other day—a white lab—and he said, ‘My dog, my friend, help me tie my shoes.' It was the first indication that he knew exactly what this dog will be, that it’s not just going to be a pet.”

Kristen Spielman said that in most ways Nathan is a typical 3-year-old. He loves solving with puzzles, climbing the twisted architecture of playground castles, fiddling with his iPad, and—maybe most of all—cats.

“It’s too bad that a cat is not as useful as a dog,” she said.

Kristen Spielman used to work as a registered nurse. (Her husband is a nurse practitioner. “We were kind of picked specially for this little guy,” she said.)

Now she stays home with Nathan and her other two sons, Caleb, 8, and Luke, 5.

Last spring Kristen Spielman—who moonlights as a comedian—spoke to Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), a community organization based out of .

She made a good impression and when it came time for the group to pick a charity beneficiary for their first ever Christmas Shopping Extravaganza, the group's finance director Mindi Wolsky suggested using the event’s proceeds to help pay for the training of Nathan’s service dog.

“It has to do with a little boy and given that we are all moms in this group we get it,” Wolsky said. “When we heard about Nathan, we knew he was a perfect fit for us.”

The Christmas Shopping Extravaganza runs from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at Stonemill Farms Community Center and is structured as a “Girl’s Night Out” event with cocktails, fireside banter, and 13 vendors including Uppercase Living, 31 Gifts, Norwex, Scentsy, Silpada, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, and Tastefully Simple.

For more information, check out MOPS’s Facebook page for the event.