LEFT: Kevin Ugan and Tom. ABOVE: Melody Moore with her therapy dogs, Gillies and DeBurke.
Canine companions make life easier — and more rewarding — for those they are " ained to A
moving it. We use physical stimulation of something touching the skin to augment that signal while the person is thinking about it." On command, the dog will lay its head on the person's lap and the patient's left hand is placed on the dog. The stimulus of the dog's silky fur under the hand augments the generation of neuro-signals making communication easier.
D
oug Lee, MS CI 78, an IBM software sales specialist also from Tucker, trained Boda, a yellow Labrador pup, after reading about the CCI program in a suburban Atlanta newspaper. Lee, whose wife, Fran, has a form of muscular dystrophy, saw an opportunity to help others achieve greater independence. "I felt very fortunate to have had the opportunities that I've had," he says. "My years at Tech taught me how to work hard and achieve things that were often very difficult. Raising a puppy to become an assistance dog is hard work, but it's a great feeling to have the opportunity to help others achieve things that might be difficult for them." That training took on a more personal meaning when his wife began to use a wheelchair more often. Boda had completed almost two-thirds of his advanced training before he was
dismissed by CCI. He is now being trained privately to work as an assistance dog for Fran. "Boda is part of the family now," Lee says. "He's there to help Fran whenever she needs him. Who knew when we were training him that he would come back to help us?"
G
athright-Dietrich understands the close bond between a disabled person and his or her dog. "Tuthill is my very best friend," she says as she rubs his ears. "He enables me to continue to be the active high achiever that I have always been, even though I use a wheelchair. "Tuthill's willingness to do repetitive, mundane tasks allows me to save my limited amount of energy so that I can use it to do what I want to do rather than what I have to do. "He has given my life back to me." GT Winter 2001 'GEORGIA TECH
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