autism service dogs in schools

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
autism service dogs in schools
19
Fri, 08-21-2009 - 10:06pm

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=8384926

"Schools Fight Families Over Autism Service Dogs

Schools balk at letting autistic kids bring service dogs to class; some families fight back

By LINDSEY TANNER
The Associated Press
CHICAGO

Like seeing-eye dogs for the blind, trained dogs are now being used to help autistic children deal with their disabilities. But some schools want to keep the animals out, and families are fighting back.

Two autistic elementary school students recently won court orders in Illinois allowing their dogs to accompany them to school. Their lawsuits follow others in California and Pennsylvania over schools' refusal to allow dogs that parents say calm their children, ease transitions and even keep the kids from running into traffic.

At issue is whether the dogs are true "service dogs" — essential to managing a disability — or simply companions that provide comfort.

School districts say they are not discriminating, just drawing the line to protect the safety and health of other students who may be allergic or scared of dogs.

"The school district has 650 students, not just one. So we have to balance," said Brandon Wright, attorney for the Villa Grove district in central Illinois, which objected to 6-year-old Kaleb Drew's plan to bring his yellow Labrador retriever, Chewey, to school.

Kaleb's family won a judge's order in July allowing the dog to come to class until a trial, set to start Nov. 10. That means when Kaleb starts his first full day of first grade Monday, Chewey will be by his side.

Service dogs have long been used by the blind, but training them to help those with autism is relatively new. While there's little research on how these animals affect autistic children, families like Kaleb's say they have seen marked improvement. And the support group Autism Speaks includes a list of dog-training groups among resources on its Web site.

Autism is a developmental disorder that involves behaviors such as poor eye contact, trouble communicating and repetitive movements such as rocking or hand-flapping. Those with the disorder are prone to outbursts and may have trouble with changes in their environment.

The dogs are trained to be a calming influence, providing a constant between home, school and other new places. Sometimes, as in Kaleb's case, the dogs are tethered to children to prevent them from running off in dangerous situations.

(article continues...)



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(





Photobucket



"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset.



- Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator



Photobucket Photobucket



Dog fighting is cruelty, which is a human activity and a human illness.

It's not the dog's fault.

All dogs need to be evaluated as individuals."

--Tim Racer, one of BAD RAP's founders



http://www.badrap.org/rescue/



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Photobucket



Mika Dog




"All things share the same breath;

the beast, the tree, the man.

The Air shares its spirit with

all the life it supports."

--Chief Seattle



"If there are no dogs in Heaven,

then when I die I want to go where they went."

~Will Rogers



"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

~~Mahatma Gandhi





Photobucket



"Life is a state of mind." ~~from Being There.



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(



Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2009
Sat, 08-22-2009 - 7:35am
When I head this on the news yesterday I did begin to wonder how that could/would work in my school. I have some questions about the feasibility, for example - who takes the dog out to do it's business and cleans up after it while at school? What if a teacher or teachers assigned to the student are allergic to dogs? What about other students in the classroom who may be allergic? What about other students who are afraid of dogs? What to do, once the student is in a middle/high school situation and the school, such as mine, is so overcrowded that travel in the hallway is difficult without a dog? Last year I had 30+ students in my classes with no room for more desks, I really don't know where I would have been able to seat a student with a dog - I had one morbidly obese student that I had a difficult time seating so that people could walk past due to the overcrowding in my room, where would I have put a dog?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Sat, 08-22-2009 - 10:25am

Along the same line... What if every autistic child wanted to bring their dog?

 


Photobucket&nbs

Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Sat, 08-22-2009 - 4:31pm
That's a good concern--I wonder how the schools handle seeing eye dogs.










iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Sat, 08-22-2009 - 9:19pm
All good concerns. The deaf also have service dogs, by the way. I think if some schools control students families' private lives as well as lunch contents in terms of peanut allergy, and accommodate wheel chairs, even must provide ASL signers, braille textbooks, allow students without vaccinations, accommodate students who don't speak English, etc., they need to look closely at this latest, denying the handicapped their trained dogs. Quite a conundrum.




Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(





Photobucket



"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset.



- Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator



Photobucket Photobucket



Dog fighting is cruelty, which is a human activity and a human illness.

It's not the dog's fault.

All dogs need to be evaluated as individuals."

--Tim Racer, one of BAD RAP's founders



http://www.badrap.org/rescue/



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Photobucket



Mika Dog




"All things share the same breath;

the beast, the tree, the man.

The Air shares its spirit with

all the life it supports."

--Chief Seattle



"If there are no dogs in Heaven,

then when I die I want to go where they went."

~Will Rogers



"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

~~Mahatma Gandhi





Photobucket



"Life is a state of mind." ~~from Being There.



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(



iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2006
Sun, 08-23-2009 - 8:10am

Interesting discussion.

IMO, I don't think we should elevate another student's "fear of dogs" to the level of denying another student reasonable accommodations. I feel the same way about peanut butter. If one child has a fatal allergy and another child "only" eats peanut butter, I think an accommodation should be made to help the peanut eater to learn to eat other foods, rather than risk the death of the other child.

Similarly, if a dog can allow an autistic child to navigate a public school successfully, then other children who are afraid of dogs should be given some assistance to overcome their phobia. It's a win -win. KWIM?

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Sun, 08-23-2009 - 11:31am

There's the question of allergies. Previously the dogs I've adopted have been non-shedding types but one of the

 


Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2009
Sun, 08-23-2009 - 1:31pm
I haven't had a blind student in the years I have been teaching so I didn't actually think about that, but I have had about 12 autistic children in the last 7 years which is why I was concerned. I just wondered how feasible bringing a dog into a classroom would be. The allergy aspect is perhaps the most concerning - for the teacher who must be there and any other students. I'm not saying that the dogs shouldn't be allowed, I am just wondering how those conflicting needs would/could be accommodated.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2006
Mon, 08-24-2009 - 9:23am
True - the allergy bit it more complex.

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Mon, 08-24-2009 - 12:52pm
I guess the bottom line question gets to be: which child gets priority and which gets denied a public school education? That's the bottom line, to me. Many years ago, all children not "normal" were shunted off to private schools or alternatives. Not in public schools at all. Now we have so many who have special needs, and expect to be accommodated in our public schools, it's become very complex.



I guess if it were my child being denied access, I'd be suing, too. And if my child's *best* helper is a trained helper dog, to make his/her ability to be in a public school venue, possible, I'd be fighting hard to have the dog accepted and accommodated, too. Because, like most parents, I expect my child to be accommodated, as the mandate has become in public schools these days. Very difficult position for the schools to be in. And the parents, who would be less than objective, understandably, if it is their child that is affected.



So, which child is to be sacrificed? :O I wonder, also, why have not issues come up before re: seeing eye dogs in schools, as seeing eye dogs have been around for a very long time now? Is it like many other kinds of handicaps, these kids were quietly shunted off elsewhere until we had laws for the rights of the handicapped being applied to our public schools? And this is yet another threshold and barrier coming up?




Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(





Photobucket



"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night.

It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset.



- Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator



Photobucket Photobucket



Dog fighting is cruelty, which is a human activity and a human illness.

It's not the dog's fault.

All dogs need to be evaluated as individuals."

--Tim Racer, one of BAD RAP's founders



http://www.badrap.org/rescue/



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Photobucket



Mika Dog




"All things share the same breath;

the beast, the tree, the man.

The Air shares its spirit with

all the life it supports."

--Chief Seattle



"If there are no dogs in Heaven,

then when I die I want to go where they went."

~Will Rogers



"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress

can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

~~Mahatma Gandhi





Photobucket



"Life is a state of mind." ~~from Being There.



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2009
Mon, 08-24-2009 - 4:52pm
I think the difference is in the numbers. This year I have a blind student, just checked my class list as school for students does not begin until next week. This is the first time I have ever had a blind student but I have one or two and sometimes more, autistic students every year. BTW my blind student is not arriving with a seeing eye dog. As service dogs are used in more areas it brings up the question of what to do because it increases the likelihood of eventually having a service dog in your classroom/school. There is also the question of how appropriate the accommodation is for a school - is a seeing eye dog really the best thing in a school? I don't know. But given the sheer number of autistic students we have in schools I do wonder how I would handle having a service dog in my classroom, or ultimately more than one.

Pages