Reading
Goes to the Dogs W
hen the red scarves go on, Solomon and Justice know it’s time to start reading…well, as much as dogs can read. The two Labrador Retrievers—Solomon, a six-year-old black lab, and Justice, a 13-year-old yellow lab, are owned by Dr. Anne Papalia-Berardi, associate professor of special education at Millersville. She has been involved with therapy dogs for 20 years, certifying each of her own dogs since 1993 to help students struggling with reading and learning.
Her first dog, Casey, a Labrador Retriever/ Golden Retriever mix, accompanied her as an elementary learning support teacher. “Casey participated in our lessons, and students read to her and wrote stories about her,” explained Papalia-Berardi. Her idea to use therapy dogs to help struggling readers came from a librarian in the School District of Lancaster who began a therapy dog program at Wharton Elementary School, titled “Paws for Reading.” Papalia-Berardi and her dogs were volunteers for three years in the
By Janet KACSKOS
program, and students would come for an hour once a week to read to the dogs. “The dogs appear to be reading the books because at the end of each line they are given a treat,” says Papalia-Berardi. “The child holds the treat in their hand and moves their hand across the words until the end of the line when the dog is rewarded for helping to ‘read’ with a treat.” Other dogs prefer to cuddle and be petted as the child reads to them. The program is based on Project Reading Education Assistance Dogs, or
