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Show - Hilltop 17 October 19, 2000 f A l-ass- r activity isted $ (f i f ODlORf.? said. Why should they if adults have hurt them their entire life? Theyve built a wall and wont let adult therapists in. So therapists use the dogs to cross that barrier because the kids recognize unconditional love. They attach to the dogs and through the dogs therapists can do their work. Its so amazing what you can have happen. Mercer said the animals are intuitive and literally know what people need. We talk about this amongst us. All of the dogs are like this. They really know when someone needs something and they know what to do, she said. One ITA team was waiting to meet a group in a lobby. While waiting, the dog continued to pull toward a woman sitting a chair looking out the lobby window. Eventually, the handler let the dog off the leash and the animal went straight to the woman who then began petting the dog and gently speaking to it. Up to that point the medical staff was not aware the woman could speak. Cancer had disfigured her face and she no - how much this s faster on many v herapy. AniirJt and informally Therapy where ad a handler fol- ?oals and docu-can range from en dealing with ty sical therapy t without know- - v iyone cared about what she had to say. This dog brought out what she needed. The dog did- nt care what she looked like. They never care if you drool or cant talk well. That unconditional love is really how we do all of this, Mercer said. Mercer said most group members volunteer about an hour a week, but schedules are as flexible as teams need them to be. There are 73 different program handlers and animals can participate in working with small children, tyens and the elderly, You just dont realize how effective these animals are with all types of people , she said. I had been going out to the prison working with guys about to be paroled, They want to bring a little humanity back into their lives so we bring the dogs out. Theyd know Im coming and prisoners would bring pictures of their dogs. These big men covered in tattoos showing me the pictures of their dogs theyre going to go back home to. - ow a ball. Thc ifter 40 minuter lerapy now ana e it because its someone whos eds their upper arness on a dog dog pulls them. j, ah named Sushi'' . One new program Mercer is especially proud of is V.E.A.D. Reading Education Assistance Dogs. Han-,- n mers and animals have spent time in libraries and schools helping children enjoy reading without criticism or ing. She said children whore dyslexic often open up in nary Childre whove bn grad-insid- an ys kids have their er front of animals. Susan Colledge, a first grade teacher at Holt idults, Mercer spre rX SB y for S Ele- - German shepherd Dillon and Senior Airman Jason Foster introduce themselves to Susan Colledges first grade class at Holt Elementary School in Clearfield. Dillon patiently listens as Kaden Weston reads a story. ' ld a A i x 'Vt,' y mentary School in Clearfield, said everybody needs a chance to read for enjoyment and having four legged visitors gives the kids a chance to break from the monot-on-y of vocabulary study to read a story of their choice. In first grade theyre learning words and its really hard. When they read to the dogs they can relax a little. Theyre not being graded on it, she said. When Dillon is here, thats the fun part. They look forward to the time when they can show off what theyve learned and say hey, Im pretty smart after all. Intermountain Therapy Animals are selected through a screening process. A successful candidate needs to have good manners, a gentle and predictable tion and must be comfortable being touched by a stranger J f or in crowded situations. Screenings are held on a regular basis. The fee for the first team screening is $20. After screening, theres an eight-hou- r course that teaches handlers how to identify stress in their animals, helping animals onto a hospital bed and other important skills. For details, call orvisitwww.therapyanimals.org. 877-485-11- 21 HI l j between 20-2- 5 wishes from the foundation. Darla said its rewarding and always enjoyable to see how excited children are. The commotion at the Rodriguez house Tuesday night brought a lot of neighborhood attention. One of the kids told Sergio Voure so lucky you got all those toys and he pointed out you have to have can- cer to do this. In other words, I dont know ifit was worth it, she said. Sergio said he was most t V" . f Ur , ffTf ' r l I r i ' J A f irasaisaisaiaiaF5i other kids wont be able to order until November or December, which places Photos by Mary Galbraith Base Exchange, where he picked up several video games and a Make-spelasSITiates, was the recipient of a $1,750 shopping spree from the over a year in treatment. the at pr e ping ia 3 nt fhat leads - arr and entintef e Ie s i n reatn era c h we tiat doe 0trn0 - can- - tniean jB Sergios aware hes got a chronic illness, but he also knows theres an 80 percent chance of survival. Weve all learned a lot, David said. Shortly after his diagnosis, Diane got involved with a childhood cancer foundation called Candlelighters and began researching. It was through Candlelighters Diane heard about the Foundation. Before Sergios illness, she thought children who were granted wishes had to be ter- Make-A-Wis- h fUn fntinInfirin nloA nmiTIPC WIqIiPS fOT mino11ri11 i anothe r gfliofltf n cane rate- excited about his Lunar Two purchase a Playstation game he ordered that from a child, parents or a medical professional treating child. To be eligible, a child must be under age 18, have a ng illness, be able to identify a wish and cannot have received a wish from another organization. Once eligibility is determined, the foundation assigns volunteer wish teams that ask the child what he or she would like. The final step is making the wish a reality. said its probably not something she would have done during Sergios first year of treatment because he h Foundation volunteers was so sick, but weeks shopping spree this made Hirsch Tim and Darla a standout and welcome break for Sergio to be a kid instead of a patient. They were so flexible and easy going. They made it as stress free as they possibly could if theres such a thing as a kid at a toy store, she said. I think Sergio feels like that hes been rewarded. I think we all did. It was nice focused occasion they made it a really special, positive onmm. Tim started volunteering four years ago and Darla got involvedtwo years later. Together theyve helped deliver - Make-A-Wis- Sergio first on the list to get the game when its released, Sergios most expensive toy was a $180 remote control truck. The cheapest was a 99 cent baseball. He thanked the foundation and volunteers who made is wish possi-Dian- e ble. h Foundation is doing something The and for the cancer society being nice to all other sick kids. They take care of kids with any kind of disease because theyre working pretty hard and trying their best to be a great patient and when theyre getting leg shots the most painful part of Sergio s treatment and theyre doing lots of hard things that other kids dont have to do, he said, The shopping spree only had one parental condition, Sergio could purchase whatever he wanted, as long as he bought a piece of furniture to put things away in. He ended up with an entertainment center bookcase combination. two bucks over budget. Volun- Sergio spent $1,752 teers chipped in the extra two dollars. Make-A-Wis- |