Remy Reads

Hi, my name's Alexandra and why my name may not be familiar to you, I'm getting familiar with many of your names. This summer I've been helping Sue with some of the administrative duties around the ARC office. Now, I will be taking over as office manager until the end of the year.  My background is in the science and technology world, where I've done everything including teaching, programming, text-book editing and project management. The most fulfilling work I've had though is when I am able to help someone learn.

In 2004 I was lucky enough to rescue my best friend Remy. She's a terrier-cocker spaniel mix, about 28 pounds, roughly a foot tall and multi-colored - including grey, black, white and apricot. She was originally from West Virginia, but had been passed from rescue group to rescue group until she made it to her first Philadelphia family. Eventually she made her way to me, and I've been blessed since. After the usual adjustment time, I wanted to find more activities for us to do together. I realized how well she got along with my niece, who at the time was using a wheelchair and had a tracheotomy. In a search for some volunteer work by which we could share the joy Remy brings with others, one area stood out. After doing much research and foundation work, I even decided to pull a career-change and start an organization based on this work - "Remy Reads" was born.

"Remy Reads" is an educational service organization where we provide a trained reading assistance dog along with a human facilitator to support reading education. What, a dog reading? No the dog doesn't read (you would have seen us on TV by now if that were so), but Remy's presence does help the student practice his or her reading. The mere presence of pets in a therapeutic setting has been shown to lower blood pressure, lower anxiety and boost self-esteem. Similar benefits also show up in the classroom.

The way a session works is that a student, Remy and a human facilitator, work together in an area separate from the classroom. The student is given a choice of books to read (usually starting with animal-related books) and reads aloud while being encouraged to interact with Remy as he or she chooses. Some students may choose to pet her, keep a hand on her, or even a toe. When the student stumbles over a word the human facilitator would step in and say, "Remy didn't understand, could you repeat that?" Or the facilitator might say, "Remy doesn't know what that word means, could you tell her?"  This diverts the attention from the student, and places it on Remy. The student then doesn't feel so "in the spotlight" and can feel more comfortable and at ease.

While there are many programs trying to address illiteracy, Remy Reads has a few advantages. For improvement in reading ability there is no substitute for practice; studies have shown that an hour a day of reading by oneself is what is needed to improve a student's reading ability. Introducing a pet-partner team to a program of reading improvement helps to alleviate the stress a struggling student feels while reading aloud and practicing his reading skills. A student also starts to look forward to his or her "doggie time;" turning a reluctant student into an eager student.

Prior pilot programs have shown that the eagerness the students show toward their reading time spills over to the entire day, and eventually to school in general. For instance, Thursdays become "Remy Day" and students look forward to the start of school. Students are aware that the doggie takes a bath, brushes her teeth and gets ready to come to school. Students begin to emulate these actions and personal habits improve.  Instead of feeling punished or singled out to read aloud, students see their doggie time as a treat. Last, but not least, Remy Reads re-introduces the pleasure in reading to an at-risk population. In a world of increasingly technological solutions, what a basic, holistic approach to learning!

As an aside another place where the benefits of pets have been studied is in the home. Children raised with a pet in the household show higher self-esteem, better grades in school and less alienation in general than those raised in pet-less homes. There is also new research that a child exposed to multiple pets in their first year of life is less likely to suffer from allergies. All the more reason to bring a pet or pets into your home!

If you would like more information on this program or on pet-assisted therapy in general, please contact me at info@remyreads.com. Please visit our website too at: www.remyreads.com.

 

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