One little boy named Keaton Cook has a new attitude toward reading and writing after his two Dalmatians taught him to love books.
Keaton, an 8-year-old with autism, has always struggled to keep up with his peers, especially when it comes to reading aloud. According to his mom Gemma, he was years behind his peers and was reading at a the preschool level.
Reading aloud was especially challenging for Keaton. Like the young man with autism who got nervous at the dentist’s office, he finds intense sensory experiences difficult. Reading to an audience definitely fit the bill.
However, Gemma quickly discovered that, for Keaton, the kind of audience made a big difference.
Reading to his peers might be a no-go, but the Cook family happens to have two beautiful, beloved Dalmatians named Dotty and Charlie.
In addition to being sweet and charming dogs, they also make for an exceptionally non-judgmental audience for a certain 8-year-old boy.
Both dogs sit patiently and listen to Keaton, giving him lots of time and breathing room to get used to reading out loud.
His mom told Inside Edition that she got the idea after Keaton’s school suggested a therapy dog. “I wanted to see if it could work with our dogs… I told him that the dogs loved to hear kids read,” she said. “So he started reading and the dogs came over and just sat next to him. They just sat there and listened to him.”
Learn more about Keaton’s amazing furry friends in the video below, and be sure to SHARE this sweet story with everyone who knows that dogs are the ultimate miracle workers!
