As I mentioned to you at the time that this program goes to Woodmoor, where my son attends school. It was Mark and Annie that made school something to look forward to and gave my son the confidence to speak to others about Annie, whom he was so proud to be walking! My son has among other things severe speech apraxia, which means he understands what you say to him, but he has a very hard time with enunciation, and most of the time no one understands him. At the age of 5 1/2 he has started to notice that he is different, actually tells me other people's ears don't work when he talks and has become very shy around children.
With the help of Annie, Mark, and your Reading with Rover program, my son can't wait to tell all the other kids about this great dog he has! When Annie is there, he forgets about his speech issues and they have a reference for what he is talking about... a dog.
I know you have done so much to get this program into the schools and I as a parent wanted to thank you! I have always been a dog lover and to see my son have the same love gives us a real special connection! I always knew dogs had a magical draw to them.
I have started with another Mom, called Northshore Special Families. We have many events with one of them being a playgroup every third saturday of the month. I would love to find out if any of you would be interested in coming to one of these events and sharing this experience with others. I can explain more to you when we speak.
Sorry if I seemed to go on and on. I have been meaning to e-mail you for quite some time now.
Thank you for finding such a great way to connect people, dogs, acceptance and self esteem.
