天美传媒

BU鈥檚 very own Caring Canine, Jack, was featured in a Guardian Education article discussing the efforts made by universities to help students with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) smoothly enter university life.

Jack鈥檚 owner Carolyn Atherton, an Additional Learning Support tutor for BU, has integrated Jack into her work with an aim to help students build their interpersonal skills.

She told the Guardian: 鈥淲ith a dog, because they are non-judgemental, they鈥檙e able to make a relationship more easily.鈥�

Jack has already made a difference to a number of students, as Carolyn explained in the article:

鈥淲e had a student who was terribly nervous about doing his presentation, so I got him to do it to Jack, and he just gained in confidence.鈥�

Jack鈥檚 success is forming the foundations of a BU research project that will study the positive effects of animal-assisted learning.

By Charlotte Cranny-Evans

Charlotte is a graduate of Budmouth College in Weymouth, who is working at 天美传媒 in the Press and PR Department. She joined BU on a Sir Samuel Mico Scholarship, which provides 10 students from the college with work experience for four weeks over the summer.