Taylor Swift donates $10K to 8-year-old with autism for service dog

HUMBLE, Texas (FOX 26) - Taylor Swift's generous donation to one Houston family will have a lasting impacting on their 8-year-old son. Jacob Hill was diagnosed with Autism when he was just one-and-a-half years old. His family has been searching for ways to help him ever since. 

For Jacob's mother, Allison Hill, it's a constant worry. 

"You don't know if they're going to be able to be independent. You don't know if they're going to  be able to tell you I love you," said Allison. 

Allison said with moderate to severe autism, Jacob has a tendency to run away and doesn't communicate very well. 

"He has always tried to run from safety. He has very little awareness of danger," Allison said.

A few years ago, the family was approved from to receive a service dog for Jacob from Autism Service Dogs of America. But the price tag was costly at $13,500-- money they just didn't have. 

His sister, Jordan and their cousin, Makaylee created a YouTube parody of Taylor Swift's hit song "Blank Space" asking for donations. 

The video helped raise roughly $3,500 from family and friends who donated to the Hill's GoFundMe page. It even caught the attention of Taylor Swift herself, who donated the remaining $10,000 amount so Reid, the highly-trained golden doodle could finally be by Jacob's side. 

"Jacob will sometimes go mute for several days when he gets anxious. He won't talk at all. He won't say 'yes'. He won't say 'no'. He just gets very very anxious and so now he's able to ask to be with Reid. So sometimes he'll go under his desk and just snuggle with Reid," Allison said. 

The pop-country superstar also invited Jacob, Reid and his family to her concert at NRG last Saturday, so she could meet them in person. 

"Jacob grabbed her face and pulled her hair back and said, 'Hi Taylor!' It was really really cute. We'd been working on him saying, 'Hi Taylor' but I didn't know if he'd be able to with all this stimuli there. But he said it and she didn't even bat an eyelash," Allison said. 

Allison said Taylor was kind and gracious and to Jacob, even comforting him when he was scared by the camera's bright flash. 

The interaction may have been a small gesture for the pop-country superstar but to Jacob and his family, it meant everything. 

"The way she interacted with him, just showing him respect and dignity and looking directly at him. It just meant a lot to us," Allison said.