Last week, Guide Dogs hosted a special reading session held at the iconic British Library, where children with different sight loss conditions met some friendly guide dogs in training and were encouraged to read to this laidback canine audience using special Guide Dogs’ CustomEyes books.
Our new research highlighted the importance of reading out loud for all children, including those with visual impairment. 91% of adults surveyed reported that they remembered reading aloud had helped improve their literacy skills, but 65% of children reported they felt shy reading in front of their peers.
To combat this fear, Guide Dogs set up this unique event to provide some of the charity’s young service users with dogs to read to instead. In the research results, 72% of children agreed that reading to a dog would help their confidence, because they are non-judgemental.
It was also a fantastic experience for some of our guide dogs in training too, giving them a chance to practice being calm and confident in a new environment and interact with some children. This behaviour is essential for their future roles as guide dogs out and about in public spaces.
Kerry Kernan, Head of Children, Young People and Families at Guide Dogs, said: “At Guide Dogs, we believe in the power of reading to transform lives. It is crucial that every child is able to access books and to immerse themselves in exciting stories. Our CustomEyes books are designed to make reading accessible and enjoyable for children with a variety of different sight loss conditions, by increasing text size, changing font style and even adjusting background colours of the pages.
“We found that only 60% of children with vision impairment enjoy reading compared to 78% of their sighted peers. Confidence is doubtless a big part of that gap. A patient audience can work wonders when you’re getting to grips with tricky pronunciation and sounding out letters. That’s why reading to dogs can be a lovely option – they don’t mind if the story gets a bit tangled up.”
Kate, whose daughter Imogen, 6, joined the special event, said: “The children and the dogs both had a wonderful time settled on the beanbags for story time. It’s great to see how CustomEyes books can help Imogen and other children enjoy reading. Having a vision impairment shouldn’t be a barrier to being able to experience the magic of a great book and reading to dogs in training only made it even more enjoyable!”
The special reading session at the British Library also served to promote the Summer Reading Challenge, an initiative aimed at encouraging children to continue reading over the summer holidays. The challenge is particularly important as it helps to maintain and improve literacy skills during the long break from school.
