Therapy Dog for Special Education
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Hi, I'm Mariah, I am a Special Education teacher in California. After earning my Graduate degree in Special Education from Cal Lutheran, I teach students with severe disabilities including down syndrome, autism and emotional disturbance. My current school is renowned for its specialized programs helping students who struggle with social issues due to autism, anxiety, divorce, loss and physical/emotional abuse. In an effort to help my students cope with some of the daily challenges they have to overcome at school, I want to raise money to purchase and train a purebred Golden Retriever as a professionally certified therapy dog for our Special Education Students.
Therapy dogs are specially trained to assist people of all ages who suffer from mental, social, emotional, and physical challenges. Just to name a few, therapy dogs lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, release endorphins that elevate general mood, calm tempers and diminish overall physical pain. For mental health, these extraordinary dogs mitigate the side-effects of depression, decrease feelings of isolation,encourage communication, provide comfort, decrease anxiety, and increase inter-personal socialization. Paws for People, an organization specializing in pet therapy also states that therapy dogs can be helpful with literacy support for children. The canines do this by providing a non- stressful, non- judgmental environment which helps increase self-confidence allowing for the children to focus and improve literacy skills.
Specifically, I intend to train the dog to provide comfort to my students experiencing depression, frustration and anxiety. I have many students that don't possess the ability to verbally communicate their feelings , therefore having a therapy dog they can go to for comfort/support when caretakers are unaware of their needs would be highly beneficial. Also, the dog will be assist in teaching responsibility, respect and empathy. Many children with autism have trouble with empathy, but studies report that children who work with Therapy Dogs show more signs of empathy than children who do not. Because children often learn to view the service dog as a peer, the straightforward and consistent body language of the service dog can be used to teach the child empathy. Often, as the child ages, their ability to empathize with a service dog will extend to interactions with other people.
Please consider supporting this cause and helping students learn in an environment that is both engaging and supportive.
Disclaimer: This page is not affliated with LVUSD or White Oak Elementary.
Therapy dogs are specially trained to assist people of all ages who suffer from mental, social, emotional, and physical challenges. Just to name a few, therapy dogs lower blood pressure, improve cardiovascular health, release endorphins that elevate general mood, calm tempers and diminish overall physical pain. For mental health, these extraordinary dogs mitigate the side-effects of depression, decrease feelings of isolation,encourage communication, provide comfort, decrease anxiety, and increase inter-personal socialization. Paws for People, an organization specializing in pet therapy also states that therapy dogs can be helpful with literacy support for children. The canines do this by providing a non- stressful, non- judgmental environment which helps increase self-confidence allowing for the children to focus and improve literacy skills.
Specifically, I intend to train the dog to provide comfort to my students experiencing depression, frustration and anxiety. I have many students that don't possess the ability to verbally communicate their feelings , therefore having a therapy dog they can go to for comfort/support when caretakers are unaware of their needs would be highly beneficial. Also, the dog will be assist in teaching responsibility, respect and empathy. Many children with autism have trouble with empathy, but studies report that children who work with Therapy Dogs show more signs of empathy than children who do not. Because children often learn to view the service dog as a peer, the straightforward and consistent body language of the service dog can be used to teach the child empathy. Often, as the child ages, their ability to empathize with a service dog will extend to interactions with other people.
Please consider supporting this cause and helping students learn in an environment that is both engaging and supportive.
Disclaimer: This page is not affliated with LVUSD or White Oak Elementary.
Organizer
Mariah Chambers
Organizer
Thousand Oaks, CA
