Therapy dog helps students with reading struggles
By WLKY Staff
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A local high school is pulling out all the stops to help students get a handle on their fear of reading out loud.
Louisville’s Eastern High School has been using a therapy dog named Omni to help comfort students through their reading struggles.
He recently spent some time in Emily Kolb’s ninth grade reading class. Kolb says she’s been using the dog therapy program for about four years.
According to Kolb, it helps ease the anxiety some students have about reading aloud in class.
“This is a way for them to have fun with reading a lot of times when they are doing independent reading at school,” says Kolb. “You are sitting quietly, and that is not what natural reading looks like when you read for pleasure. So, one of the things I want to show them is you can relax and be comfortable and make this a fun experience– less like an assignment.”
Omni is part of “Paws With Purpose”, a nonprofit that uses assistance dogs to help improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.
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