School Learning Disabilities Therapy Dogs for Children With Learning Disabilities By Jenev Caddell, PsyD facebook twitter linkedin Jenev Caddell, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist, relationship coach, and author. Learn about our editorial process Jenev Caddell, PsyD Fact checked by Fact checked by Andrea Rice on August 30, 2020 facebook twitter linkedin Andrea Rice is an award-winning journalist and a freelance writer, editor, and fact checker specializing in health and wellness. Learn about our editorial process Andrea Rice Updated on September 17, 2020 Print kali9 / Getty Images A therapy dog may not sit on the couch and ask you how you feel, but they may sit on the couch alongside you at your psychotherapist's office if you are comfortable with that. Therapy dogs provide comfort and assistance to those who have illnesses, anxiety, and disabilities. Therapy dogs are dogs whose purpose is to provide comfort. At nursing homes, for example, therapy dogs may come in and provide affection to the residents. They have also helped out at hospitals, schools, disaster sites, and with people with learning difficulties and developmental disabilities. How Does a Therapy Dog Help? The comfort that a therapy dog provides literally helps the brain relax. Much like healthy relationships with others alter how our brains function, the presence of the therapy dog can have an impact on the various neurotransmitters that one's brain releases. Oxytocin, for example, otherwise known as "the cuddle hormone," calms and soothes the nervous system, resulting in increased cognitive function. It has also been found that therapy dogs can help reduce blood pressure and the amount of cortisol released, which has implications in a greater ability to heal. How Can a Therapy Dog Help My Child With a Learning Disability If a child is struggling with difficulty learning, it can be a stressful experience to continually try to read or write or participate in a learning activity that does not come naturally. Because of their calming effects, a therapy dog can help soothe children and make them feel more relaxed, which can assist in the learning process. Therapy Dogs Are Not Necessarily Service Animals Therapy dogs can provide comfort to those who are ill or help to soothe a child who is anxiously struggling to read. Service dogs and animals also exist to assist people with disabilities but have different training criteria than therapy dogs. Service animals are specifically trained to perform tasks for someone with a disability. There is a great deal of confusion that exists about how a dog can qualify to be a service animal. Unless the service animal meets a set of minimum standards, they cannot be considered a service animal. Once such minimum standards are met, however, a service dog enables someone who has a disability to have greater independence. Someone who is blind, for example, can use a seeing eye dog to travel independently in a city without having to rely on an aide. A child in a wheelchair, for example, can rely on the therapy dog to pick up a dropped item without having to enlist the support of another adult. This independence can result in greater self-esteem, increased sense of freedom, and a better quality of life overall. Where to Learn More Following are a few organizations where you can learn more about therapy and service dogs: www.petpartners.org www.therapydogs.org www.schooltherapydogs.org While many people are skeptical about the benefits that a therapy dog may have, research backs up their ability to calm, soothe, and help heal. Service Animals for Children With Special Needs Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Brelsford VL, Meints K, Gee NR, Pfeffer K. Animal-Assisted Interventions in the Classroom-A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017;14(7):669. doi:10.3390/ijerph14070669 Wagner U, Gerald E. When Does Oxytocin Affect Human Memory Encoding? The Role of Social Context and Individual Attachment Style. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:349. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00349 Beetz A, Uvnäs-Moberg K, Julius H, Kotrschal K. 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