Two Plus Four Equals One: Celebrating the Partnership of People with Disabilities and Their Assistance Dogs

Kathy Nimmer is an award-winning teacher, author, and motivational speaker from Indiana. In 2006, she won first place in the Helen Keller International Memoir Competition and published a book of poetry called Minutes in the Dark, Eternity in the Light. She received the Butler-Cooley Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004, is a two-time recipient of the Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship, earned National Board Certification in 2003, and was presented with the Golden Apple in 1998. In 2009, she was named a Lilly Distinguished Fellow, giving her the opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream, the fulfillment of which is Two Plus Four Equals One. Blind due to a rare retinal disease, Nimmer looks to her faith, family, and friends as cornerstones in her life. She enjoys working out at the gym, reading mysteries, following sports, adding to her perfume collection, and going for long walks with her third guide dog Elias.

True, vibrant, honest, and emotional, eliciting compassion, joy, sorrow, and love, promoting understanding, acceptance, awareness, and hope. Here are over 100 stories and poems written by or about men, women, and children, all either with disabilities or connected to people who have disabilities. Joining them are Labradors, German Shepherds, Poodles, Papillons, Goldens, Shelties, Chihuahuas, and many other breeds, all trained to assist their disabled handlers. From blindness to deafness, from mobility issues to psychiatric needs, from diabetes to autism, the array of disabilities showcased in this unforgettable book is as vast as the tasks performed by the canine partners. Your eyes will be opened to the strength, competence, and potential of both the human and canine participants in an alliance where neither partner is perfect but both together add up to an equation where two hands/feet/eyes/ears plus four paws equals one magical union.