Recently, a story appeared on The Huffington Post about a six-year old boy with autism that has formed a love for dogs. Jacob Tumalan, a resident of Gardena, California, visits a nearby animal shelter and reads to dogs that have been abandoned.
According to the article, Jacob believes that by reading to these dogs, and by showing them a little bit of extra love, that they will have better chances of getting adopted and finding a new home. Jacob’s routine includes stopping by the shelter every Thursday after school ends, and he even brings along a set of books specifically tailored to certain dogs.For example, Jacob discovered that one dog in particular has an aversion to cats. In order to fix this issue Jacob reads books that involve lots of cats in order to condition him to be friendlier to cats.
This is so cool to see Jacob’s selfless perspective, as he dedicates time to help socialize the lonely dogs, and his efforts have actually managed to help a few of the dogs grow friendlier towards people. Not only that, but by reading to the dogs on a regular basis, Jacob has managed to improve his own reading ability to that of a third grade level.
The loud sounds that come from the animals in the shelter also help Jacob deal with the stress that comes with loud environments, as he focuses on reading the books to work through it. This type of progress had been avoiding Jacob for a while, but it appears that he has finally found a new activity that allows him to learn and help others simultaneously. Jacob appears to have formed a connection with these dogs, as he is set on helping the loneliest of canine hearts find a better place to call home.
