A new special friend named Kayla

Beth, Whitney and KaylaIn my other life, I’m a published author. My children’s book Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound won a Henry Bergh children’s book award from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Schools and festivals regularly ask me to visit with my Seeing Eye dog to talk with kids about that book and what its like to be blind.

Last week I was in Champaign, Ill. With my current Seeing Eye dog Whitney for the Youth Literature Festival put on by the College of Education at the University of Illinois. The Youth Literature Festival partnered with a federally-funded project called Special Friends to sponsor our visit to Westview Elementary School.

Before we visited Westview, Whitney and I were treated to lunch with faculty, students and staff working on Special Friends, and they explained how the six-week program works to help average kids understand and appreciate children with disabilities. For all six weeks, kindergarten teachers read stories about children with disabilities to their students three times a week. The Special Friends kindergarteners enjoy a 15-minute learning activity about disabilities three times a week, too. And then the kids take home one of the books they read in class every week to read and discuss with family members. After this six-week concentration on disabilities, the Special Friends people I had lunch with Friday keep track of the kindergartners to determine the short and long-term effects of this six-week program.

The highlight of our whole time in Champaign was meeting Kayla, a delightful second-grader who goes to Westview Elementary School. I usually don’t let kids pet Whitney when she has her harness on, but this was an exception. Kayla is blind, and she’d never been near a guide dog before. The only way for her to see how Whitney’s harness works was to touch it.

This spunky little sprite slid right down to the floor to feel Whitney’s ears, too. And her tail. And her back. And her belly. At one point they were face-to-face. “She’s staring at me!” Kayla exclaimed in delight. “That means she likes me.” It was true. And really, who wouldn’t like Kayla? Her mother Nicole was at the school when I visited, and when I complimented her on what a terrific job she is doing raising her daughter, Nicole told me Kayla has visited a couple special education students in college classes to give talks. “She comes in, says she’s blind, shows off her white cane, talks about learning Braille and tells them why they oughta like her,” her mom said with a laugh. “And by the end of the session, they do!” Westview Elementary, where Kayla goes to school, is one of the schools participating in Special Friends. If Kayla’s confidence and self-assurance is any indication, I’d say the six-week program is an unqualified success!


 

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