![]() “Then once we were accepted to the program, we were invited to work with autistic individuals.” “At the end, I was fingerprinted and tested for tuberculosis, and Lola underwent a physical examination,” Goldman said. Lola passed all the required components, including obedience training, canine good citizenship and behavioral tests. Ignoring naysayers who thought Lola was too lightweight for the job, Goldman perceived that Lola had a unique character, so she went ahead and pursued the specialized training. “A friend of mine had her dog trained as a therapy dog, and I wondered if my little 5-pound Lola could do it,” recalled Goldman, who was just getting used to Lola after having had Labrador retrievers and a cocker spaniel in the past. ![]() ![]() She came up with the therapy dog idea soon after retiring. For 25 years, she focused on teaching children on the autism spectrum, doing consulting and running her own program in San Carlos, and later working at the Pacific Autism Center for Education (PACE) in Santa Clara for nine years. ![]() All of the proceeds from sales will be donated to an autism charity.Ī leading philanthropist in the Bay Area Jewish community with a foundation that bears her name and that of her husband, John, Marcia Goldman is retired from a 30-year career in special education. “It’s ‘The Little Engine That Could,’ with fur,” jokes the Atherton resident about the book, which is based on her experiences going through therapy-dog training with Lola a couple of years ago. ![]()
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