An Aha Moment

Debbie Carr, a national educator for Pet Partners and the Executive Director of Therapy Animals of Utah,  and I, a special educator at ScenicView Academy, went to the international LDA Conference in Orlando, Florida, primarily to present our work in 4 different areas in partnering nationally registered therapy animals to facilitate emotional regulation, social responsiveness, and personal responsibility. Prior to the session, Debbie had called for two national registered Pet Partner teams to be at our session. Mayhem and Dudley came. The attendees learned why we chose Pet Partner animal/handler teams to work with at ScenicView. 

It was an aha moment for the attendees to learn why we developed our curricula, how we developed it, and what we are doing to monitoring and measure student progress. Our presentation promoted new, innovative ideas in successfully working with post-secondary students with autism and learning disabilities who are transitioning into society. The presentation was well-received. Our topic: How therapy animals can facilitate employability skills in working with students with autism and learning disabilities.

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