@gabriellereed62: We’ve been preparing Kiyona for how to gently interact with animals before her service dog comes home. Our German Shepherd, Marley, used to be very skittish around her because Kiyona has a hard time realizing how rough she can be when she pets him. A big part of that comes from her vision. Kiyona has cortical blindness along with other visual deficits, and she also lacks depth perception. She has no usable peripheral vision, so if something isn’t directly in front of her, she often doesn’t see it or misjudges how close it is. It’s not something that can simply be taught away, it’s just how her brain processes visual information. Because of this, Marley would sometimes get stepped on or startled, not out of intent, but because she didn’t realize he was there or how close he was. But over time, with patience from both of them, look at this 😭 Kiyona has grown so much more gentle in the ways she can control, and Marley has learned to trust her enough to relax and lay there while she pets him calmly. This might look small to some people, but to us it’s a huge moment of progress, understanding, and trust 💛 #servicedog #epilepsyawareness #seizures #specialneedsmom #KiyonaStrong

The_Reed_Family

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Saturday 23 May 2026 19:40:51 GMT