Visually impaired children share story time with dogs

Children with visual impairments discovered the "magic of a great book" as they read to guide dogs at an event aimed at improving literacy and confidence.

The initiative, hosted by the Guide Dogs charity at the British Library in central London, was aimed at closing the reading gap between sighted children and their blind or visually impaired peers.

Research from the charity found 78% of sighted children reported to like reading, compared with 60% of children who are blind or visually impaired.

Kerry Kernan, from Guide Dogs, said she hoped the initiative would encourage all children to read aloud to their dogs to improve confidence.

The children at the British Library event, who had different sight loss conditions, met guide dogs in training.

Kate, whose six-year-old daughter Imogen was among those there, said the children and the dogs both had a "wonderful time settled on the beanbags for story time".

"Having a vision impairment shouldn’t be a barrier to being able to experience the magic of a great book," she said.

The survey conducted by the charity found 91% of adults 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.

The research found that 72% of children agreed that reading to a dog would help their confidence.

Ms Kernan, who is head of children, young people and families at Guide Dogs, said reading could "transform lives".

"A patient audience can work wonders when you’re getting to grips with tricky pronunciation and sounding out letters," she said.

"That’s why reading to dogs can be a lovely option – they don’t mind if the story gets a bit tangled up.”

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