Dogs are the Best Part of the DEAL

by kf.ri scott, MS, OTR/L with help from jean haseman, OTR, RN & rona hammetter, MA, OTR/L

 

What do a Golden Retriever, the book, The Runaway Rabbit, and occupational therapy have in common? This unusual combination is helping to boost literacy skills through a lively pilot project begun in the 2002-2003 academic year in the Albuquerque Public Schools. D.E.A.L., or Dogs in Education Assisting with Literacy, is comprised of school-based occupational therapists, Delta certified Pet Partner teams, and eager school children. Three different school sites were initially selected for the Pet Partner teams to visit and encourage two basic literacy skills, reading and writing.

The innovative D.E.A.L. program in the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) was established to work with children who receive special education services. These services, in the initial pilot project, may have included students placed in a self-contained special education classroom. All of the children who were included in the pilot project were identified as needing occupational therapy services. Besides improving students' reading skills, other benefits have been noted from the reading programs including dogs. Behavioral changes which have been reported which include: fewer absences, more excitement about being at school, greater desire to read, greater confidence, and higher self-esteem.

Description

of the Three Pilot Programs

1) In the preschool co-therapy program, an occupational therapist (and Pet Partner) and a speech-language pathologist coordinate their expertise to work with children using a more global approach to therapy.

All activities are designed around book themes. The therapy session progresses from reading to a gross motor activity. This involves such activities as obstacle courses, scooter board activities, ball activities, jumping games, and acting out the scenes from a book.

Articulation is also addressed by using sounds to give commands to Simba. "Sit, stay, spin, shake, come, and down," were some of the commands given to Simba. This was far more rewarding and motivating than sitting and practicing the sounds with a therapist. One child's articulation became worse with drills, but improved dramatically when motor activities were introduced and the emphasis on sound production was removed.

2) At the second pilot site, Jake, the "reading dog," is a calm Golden Retriever who visits with the first through fifth graders at a crowded elementary school on Albuquerque's growing west side. With his Pet Partner and the school's occupational therapist, Jake encourages the students to participate in multisensory literacy activities. A multisensory approach to reading is endorsed by groups such as the International Dyslexia Association and the Learning Disabilities Association. This approach involves the use of movement, such a tapping out the sounds of letters on a table surface or clapping hands together for each syllable beat in a word. Other multisensory strategies might involve the use of colored papers, highlighting texts, manipulatives, and rhythm and music activities.

3) The third pilot site is also located in an elementary school in Albuquerque's far northeast heights. Hayley, a high energy Golden Retriever and her Pet Partner, who is an occupational therapist, work in a special education kindergarten classroom. This Pet Partner team works with the classroom teacher, educational assistant, school occupational therapist and physical therapist to instill basic literacy goals. All of the eight children in this class are