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(





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"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



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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/



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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





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



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(



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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Tue, 08-25-2009 - 8:45am

I sent this link to my friend that works with autistic children. She replied....


"We were just discussing this very thing...the center's owner

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Tue, 08-25-2009 - 12:56pm
Makes sense to me, too. :) I do understand the other concerns brought up, though, and what to do in crowded classrooms, besides that. I know the size of classes has increased here because of the recession and economic troubles school districts are having. Means more students in classrooms, despite the preference for smaller classes. :( But dog and wheel chairs, for example, take up room. Of course, generally people don't have allergies to wheel chairs, white canes for blind students, an additional person signing in ASL for deaf students, etc. Still, there is impact in any classroom where students have health or mobility or other kinds of issues that need to be accommodated. Having to learn to live amongst diversity in this sense is tough, too.




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
Tue, 08-25-2009 - 4:59pm
I would not be able to have a student in a wheel chair in my classes because my classroom is on the second floor of a building with no elevator. I did have a morbidly obese student last year - over 350 pounds - who literally took up the space of 2 and 1/2 desks - thank goodness it was only one! I also had, in the same class, a student with a one-on-one aide who was, unfortunately, extremely obese as well. I can tell you moving around that classroom was very difficult because of our increased class sizes and IMO learning was affected for everyone as I was unable to do many activities where students get up and move around because there was simply not room by time you put 30+ students and 30+ desks and two obese individuals. Did I find a way to fit everyone in? Sure, but I was unable to give the student with an aide the preferential seating he would normally have gotten since his aide was so large, sitting him in the front would have meant no one could see around the aid, and I had to also accommodate an obese student who was too large to fit down an aisle so had to sit at the end of the row where I would have preferred to put the aide. Sometimes you just can't do what you would like. This year I have a class with 12 students who have IEPs with 'preferential' seating as one of the accommodations. Usually preferential seating means in the front row, but obviously when you have 12 students with that accommodation you can't put all 12 on the front row. Am I violating someone's rights? Hope not, but I do the best I can to accommodate within the limitations I have.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Tue, 08-25-2009 - 6:21pm
I think the wheel chair issue would have to be accommodated, given federal regulations, though. I don't think the school could get away with declaring a wheelchair an UNREASONABLE accommodation for them to have to make. What's the student supposed to do, crawl?! It's the law, IF the disability and the needed accommodation is absolutely necessary to the disabled student, I should think. Like a wheelchair. As to working helper dogs, who knows? And the parents of a handicapped student who is refused would have legal grounds. As for the topic here, though, "reasonable" accommodation may or may not include helper working dogs (unlike a wheelchair). I don't know. I guess as these cases come up, the definitions of the law will have to be clarified. In court if necessary. I'm glad you figured out ways to accommodate. I realize it's not easy, and the more crowded our classrooms get, the harder it will be. :O


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
Tue, 08-25-2009 - 6:34pm
I actually spent a lot of time last year wondering what would happen if we had a student in a wheel chair as we have no elevator. Incredibly, the school is over 40 years old so you would think sometime it would have been addressed! My best guess is that some of the teachers that are on the second floor would have to relocate to the first floor - and I guess this would have to happen on a yearly basis as we can only accommodate one grade on the first floor given the way the building was constructed. I worried last year about our obese student - just trying to get down the hall and out behind the building for a fire drill was difficult for him. Due to his size he was a very slow mover and once on the stair well there was no easy way to walk past him. Realistically what would we do if there was an actual fire? I hoped that a real fire would spur him to step up the pace, but beyond a certain point he just couldn't move very fast. Morally you can't ask him to wait behind and his pace would prevent others from getting down in a timely fashion. Luckily the only fire we have had since I have been there took place in a bathroom and did not go beyond the bathroom, but it is a concern. I asked several times that his schedule be changed to downstairs classes to no avail as I was really concerned about his ability to get out safely, but that never happened. I think in a lot of older schools there are serious safety issues for disabled students that are not being addressed and likely won't until a parent brings a lawsuit.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Tue, 08-25-2009 - 7:13pm
Oh, YIKES! Scary stuff, there! :O Sometimes bureaucracy just keeps hoping a situation never comes up. Some day it will and they will have to not only pay for a lawsuit, but have to upgrade the building or whatever the court may require on top of that. So, end up paying much more in the long run. Not all school distrcts are rich. :O And heaven help you should there have been a fire and having to evacuate your morbidly obese student as well as your other students, safely! No wonder you worry. Teaching goes far beyond the curriculum... In an ideal world, the adminstrators would see to needing building upgrades, major maintenance, as needed, and see that the buildings are up to code for disabled students as well, etc. In the real world, with money so tight, much is put off to save $$$ in the short term. And the disabled are a small minority in most schools, so those needs -- or the possibility of needs, get ignored until an actual student shows up and they are forced to do something. And often it takes a lawsuit to get what should have long ago been taken care of in the first place. <:=\


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(



Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
Wed, 08-26-2009 - 8:30am
This is an interesting discussion. Given the budget constraints that every school/town is facing, retrofitting a school to accommodate students in wheelchairs would be cost prohibitive, though not as much as lawsuits would be. Would it be discriminating if schools like the moved classrooms to accommodate the student, eg. if the student belongs in a certain class to have it switch downstairs for the year? I remember years ago that a city said it would be cheaper for it to pay for people who are in wheelchairs to take cabs than to retrofit busses. I don't know how that was resolved. I think justjaney has brought up good points about space/time constraints but students still deserve an education. I wonder if they can pass laws that a student who has special needs/space constraints count as 2 or 3 students in a classroom. There must be problems w/ fire codes, as squeezing too many students in one room goes, too.










iVillage Member
Registered: 08-27-2009
Thu, 08-27-2009 - 5:17pm

You talk about allergic conditions; what about the kids who are allergic to other things in the classroom?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-08-2009
Thu, 08-27-2009 - 8:20pm

I currently do not wear any perfumes to school nor do we allow students to wear perfumes or other 'smelly' things due to the chance of adverse reactions. School policy limits what kinds of cleaning products can be used already and parents sign a form for that so they know what is being used. Therefore if there is a problem it can be addressed proactively.

I didn't say I wanted anyone barred! I asked some questions. I don't know how it would work - I can't see how I it would work. I was just trying to open the discussion with examples of what the situation in my school is and the limitations I currently have due to extreme overcrowding in an aging building that was built many years before the disabilities act and was never renovated to accommodate the disabled. Rather than accuse me of wanting to bar someone - which is a bit harsh and could be perceived as an attack - maybe you could offer some suggestions as to how it could work in my overcrowded situation. As I have stated I have never had a blind child, until this year, and so never even thought what would happen. The blind child we have coming does not have a dog so it still isn't an issue. My concern is that while it seems to be a rare event for our school to have a blind student it is not a rare event for us to have an autistic child - we generally have several each year. So, the issue of service dogs for autistic children would pose more questions for me.

I do have a limited understanding of service dogs as we had a neighbor when my children were young who raised service dogs so I am familiar with some aspects of service dogs, just have never had one in my classroom.

I am not trying to say I would be against it - I just really can't 'see' how it would work in my situation - I have to be able to 'see' how things will work before hand to have a level of comfort. Not sure if you understand what I mean.

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