R.E.A.D.
Mission
The mission of the R.E.A.D. program is to improve the literacy skills of children through the assistance of registered therapy teams as literacy mentors.
About
The Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.) program improves children's reading and communication skills by employing a powerful method: reading to an animal. But not just any animal. R.E.A.D. companions are registered therapy animals who volunteer with their owner/handlers as a team, going to schools, libraries and many other settings as reading companions for children.
R.E.A.D. is the first and foremost program that utilizes therapy animals to help kids improve their reading and communication skills and also teaches them to love books and reading. It's been growing around the world since November of 1999 when ITA launched it here in Salt Lake City. More than 3,500 therapy teams have trained and registered with the program and are going strong!
Today, thousands of registered R.E.A.D. teams work throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Finland, France, Sweden, South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, Netherlands, Norway and beyond. R.E.A.D. is one of those ideas that, in the words of Bill Moyers, "pierces the mundane to arrive at the marvelous."
Steps to Become a R.E.A.D. Team:
1. Get registered with an animal-assisted therapy group.
This will give you insurance during a visit, and some of the training you will need, to become a R.E.A.D. team. A couple national animal assisted therapy groups are the Pet Partners (www.petpartners.org formerly Delta Society) and Therapy Dogs Incorporated (www.therapydogs.com). A good website to find local animal assisted therapy groups is: www.therapydogorganizations.net.
-
You could also check to see if we have any Affiliate R.E.A.D. groups or R.E.A.D. instructors, near you.
Click here to search by state.
2. Order the R.E.A.D. manual or the whole training package.
You can purchase these either by calling our office at 877-485-1121 or through our online store. We require each R.E.A.D. team to own their own manual.
3. Read the manual, watch the video (either online or through the DVD), and complete the registration packet.
The registration packet is in section 8 of the manual and consists of an application, policies and procedures, and a 35 questions written test.
4. Send everything to Intermountain Therapy Animals.
Include the application, signed policies and procedures, 35 question written test, proof of insurance (with the expiration date showing), and the lifetime fee of $60. The lifetime fee covers you and one animal for life; as long as you stay current with your animals assisted therapy group. You will also need to send us a copy of your new membership card, with the expiration date showing, every time you renew with them. Each additional animal is $10.
Once we receive your paperwork, we review it and if everything is there we send you your membership card, R.E.A.D. dog tag, and letter saying you are registered with the R.E.A.D. program. It usually takes 1 to 2 weeks for you to receive this packet after we receive your paperwork. Once you are registered with R.E.A.D. you will have access to our online discussion group and electronic templates for the fun stuff you will see in the R.E.A.D. manual.
Costs Involved to Become a R.E.A.D. Team:
There are two, one-time fees involved in becoming registered with R.E.A.D.
-
Training manual fee of $50 including shipping.
-
Lifetime membership fee of $60, which you will send with your registration packet after you've purchased the
-
training manual. (If you are a member of an official R.E.A.D. Affiliate Group, the cost is reduced to $50. Please
-
see the list of our R.E.A.D. Affiliate Programs here: www.therapyanimals.org/Read Affiliate Programs).
Download R.E.A.D. Manuals
