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An Interesting Article On Glenn Plyler, KHS Class of 1960 Vice-President
Local Man And His Sled Dogs Bring Joy to Disabled Children
By Greg Foster, The Lincoln County News, Maine
A pair of cross country skis and one husky is all it took for one Wiscasset man to get involved with some serious dog driving or "mushing". That is how Glenn Plyler got hooked on the sport while serving in the military in Germany, and later as a preschool through first grade special education teacher, he discovered how it could benefit his students with special needs and others like them.
From the time he took his first trip with a sled dog hauling him on skis in 1983, his pastime has enlarged to 12 dogs, which he hitches up on a regular basis and takes them out for a run six at a time. Before returning to the United States a couple of years ago, Plyler (pictured with his dogs) integrated his passion for the winter activity with his work with children, including taking children on rides at the Special Winter Olympics in Germany.
"I do it basically for enjoyment as an outside activity," he said. "It's fun for me, but it can be an alternative for communicating with individuals with special needs and that maybe they can have access to recreation and outdoor experiences."
Plyler has found that use of the dogs for recreation with children with autism, for instance, can help them focus. "One of my specialties has been autism," he said. "I have a brother-in-law who has autism."
More than anything, the dogs help open the way for communication. "If I have dogs, they are more able to socialize with me one-on-one."
Plyler explained that children with autism are very visual and have difficulty with integrating visual stimuli with hearing, but that by giving them an experience with the dogs there is a potential for the children to be able to focus more.
As he works with the dogs, Plyler shows sensitivity to each dog's personality and behavior patterns. He pointed to various dogs, singling them out from the pack.
"This one is shy," he said, pointing to a large white and light brown husky, Yukon, who is one of the lead dogs. "That black one is a German bred husky. He has difficulty socializing."
After so many years of working with huskies, Plyler has become more observant about the dogs' unique way of communicating. One of the dogs, he said, could be a psychologist because it picks up on the behavior of various children.
One time there was a child who was behaving in an unpredictable way beyond normal childhood behavior. The dog gave Plyler a distinct look in response to the child's behavior. "He was basically saying I don't want to deal with him," Plyler said.
His unique ability to perceive his dogs' needs and personality distinction no doubt goes beyond animals to the individuality of children with special needs students, such as those he taught as a special education teacher in a federal Defense Department school in Germany for military dependents after retiring from the U.S. Army.
His interest in special needs comes from his own school years when he had struggles of his own in his studies. He grew up a coal miner's son in Pennsylvania and his father insisted that he go on to college so that he would not have to spend his life working in the coalmines. Plyler followed his father's wishes and studied at Clarion University in Pennsylvania and received a master's degree from the University of Utah and special education certification from the University of Eastern Washington.
For the present at least, Plyler, who lives with his wife Lee on Dorr Road, is content living in Wiscasset where he finds a real sense of community unlike upstate Washington where the couple lived before moving to Wiscasset. Although he has an obvious love for the outdoors, caring for his dogs and enjoying his winter sports of snowshoes, skiing, and dog sledding, he hopes to be able to work with special needs children in some way in the future.
(Reprinted with permission.)
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