Schools Fight Families Over Autism Service Dogs - story with pics

Schools fight families over autism service dogs

By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner, Ap Medical Writer – 21 mins ago

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.

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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.

"It's done so much more than we thought it could," said Kaleb's mother, Nichelle Drew. "We want Kaleb to be able to experience more of life," and the dog has helped him do that, she said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_autism_dogs_schools;_ylt=Al86Zcxnun7x6nRVubbc81JsaMYA



Nichelle Drew, center, leaves Villa Grove Elementary School in Villa Grove, Ill., with her son Kaleb,6, and his autism service dog, Chewey, after attending a half day of school on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. 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.
(AP Photo/Robin Scholz)


Kaleb Drew,6, and his autism service dog, Chewey, wait to be taken out of the car after Kaleb's first day of school in Villa Grove, Ill. on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. 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.
(AP Photo/Robin Scholz)


Kaleb Drew, 6, is held in check by his autism service dog, Chewey, as he tries to leave after he was told to wait on the deck at his home after attending a half day of school in Villa Grove, Ill., on Friday, Aug. 21,2009. 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.
(AP Photo/Robin Scholz)


Autism service dog, Chewey, takes a break as he waits for Nichelle Drew and her daughter Kelsey, 7, right, and son Kaleb, 6, to fill up water bottles at the grocery store in Villa Grove, Ill., after Kaleb's first day of school on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. 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.
(AP Photo/Robin Scholz)


Kaleb Drew, 6, grabs on to the tail of his autism service dog, Chewey, as they play in the backyard of their home after Kaleb's first day of school in Villa Grove, Ill., on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009. 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.
(AP Photo/Robin Scholz)

I just don't know if it's a good idea to bring a dog to a class full of curious 6-year olds. We have had blind students in our district and none of them has ever had a service dog.

I think it should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and the child and dog must be supervised by an adult aide.

"I just don't know if it's a good idea to bring a dog to a class full of curious 6-year olds."

It could be a great learning experience. Have to take time away from teaching to the test, but isn't learning what school should be about? After the first week, it will be the new "normal" and not at all disruptive.

These dogs are very gentle.

It would become the new normal, and the kids would adapt just fine.

I like dogs (they're wonderful people), but not everybody does, and people with pet allergies I feel for particularly.

If a kid needs a dog to prevent him from running off into a dangerous situation, then maybe they need some sort of special fenced facility, too.

I'm all for autistic kids getting schooling, but sometimes "mainstreaming" is not the answer.
EVERY parent of a handicapped child is distraught at the idea that their child will not have a "normal" life, and school is a part of that normal life, but there's no substitute for a properly trained special ed teacher, and a specially designed classroom, with the necessary safety features it provides.

I'm all in favor of having a dog, and a specially trained dog would be a blessing, but relying on that dog for the safety of my kid, would not be something I'd be comfortable with. Public school teachers have 25-30 OTHER kids to teach, and asking them to do more, is not really fair to them. If a school has a "no-peanut" rule because of ONE kid with an allergy, what about the kids with asthma or dog allergies? Where does the bending, start and stop?

Now that we know that intense early intervention can move them in the direction of a "normal" life so they grow to be productive citizens. we should be concentrating on that. This kid should have a one on one tutor - in the long run it's much more cost effective than shuttling through the education system and ending up with a person who needs constant support the rest of their lives. If he had a one on one tutor the dog wouldn't be an issue anymore.

and could focus on them.. Every kid wants to achieve..not just be "present"..

the private tutors? Instead of over directing resources to students with problems, pulling them disproportionately away from everyone else.


You want a private tutor, you came born with two.

I'm autistic, I also have an IQ of 140 and was reading college-level material when I was 9. When I was in high school I usually knew more than the teachers. I didn't need tutors to help with homework, my help was mostly in the form of accommodations to my sensory sensitivities and trouble taking notes and paying attention to what the teacher is saying at the same time. I could have completely self-taught myself had that been an option. Smart kids can tutor themselves, especially in this age of The Internet and Wikipedia, it's the students with problems that need the help.

Not to mention quite a few others on the spectrum here? :sarcasm:

Somehow I doubt that I would have made it from a "specially designed classroom" to Yale. Cum laude.

Oh yes, service dogs now work with people with all types of disabilities, not just blindness. My former employer, who has MS, has a dog who looks an awful lot like Chewey!

As to allergies, is the school fragrance-free? :shrug:

So you wouldn't qualify for the special needs schooling. You would have benefited by having people who needed special needs removed from the general population.

Anyone who needs that much attention is going to degrade the education of everyone else in the room.

just not as much of it.

I have as much in common with him as with any "neurotypical" (i.e. the rest of you). If I could figure out exactly why he needs the extra attention and I don't, well, I'd be a wealthy man indeed.

And I doubt that any member of the Yale Class of 1985 is going to claim that my presence "degraded the education of everyone else in the room". None of them even knew. Hell, I didn't even know until about ten years later.

You wouldn't qualify for special education. You would benefit by having people with obvious disabilities removed from your class. You don't require a disproportionate amount of attention like this boy. You don't degrade the education of everyone in the room like this boy and many others.

much of it in a segregated wing built off to the back of the school. In 1975, this was considered "progressive". :eyes: They did let us into the "real" school for chorus and stuff. Oh, joy! :sarcasm:

Then the next year, up at the junior high school, they designated one homeroom as a sort of beachhead for those of us too "mainstreamed" to be in their special wing. Even then, we didn't get to vote for student council -- until I got involved, perhaps my first taste of political activism!

I'm interested to hear what you think about this, being a successful autistic person.

It would seem that students who require disproportionate time would draw away from the other students. Putting them in special education would offer more for someone with high functioning autism. While at the same time allowing the other students to work in their own way.

Because that would be accurate. I frankly could not care less if my child ever enters a normal schoolroom, or holds a normal job. Is my child happy? Is my child having their needs met? That's all I care about.

Perhaps this boy would be better served in a different setting.

Unfortunately there are kids who are allergic to dogs.

I teach special ed and I have never heard of a service dog coming to school with a child.

in order that individual school districts aren't able to deny this valuable service to the children with autism and their families. If it's allowed to drag on, some reactionary districts will act preemptively to keep the service dogs out of their schools for as long as possible.

that he has to wear it.

:(

Looks to me like a head collar. They function much like a horse's halter.

than collars or harnesses. The dog is not restricted at all, they can eat and drink and bark.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9052

Both the kid and the dog are adorable! :D

I would think there would be some other way to meet the child with autism's needs other than risk the lives of other children in the classroom. My son has gone into severe respiratory distress after a short exposure to a dog. The problem is that even if none of the other kids have a known allergy to animal dander, you may not find out until it's too late. Having a child turning blue while they are gasping for breath is not an experience I would wish on anyone.

The issue has come up at my former workplace.

Maybe they could try training a hypoallergenic breed such as the Bichon Frise as a service dog?

they can homeschool the child.

If the child is unable to cope with a normal classroom situation, they ought not be in a normal classroom. If the child needs a special ed environment to cope, put the child in a special ed environment.

There are a lot of children out there with allergies to particular animals. Which child's needs takes precedence? The child with the allergies, or the child who needs his dog to cope? Why should a teacher need to have to handle a class full of kids AND their pets?

School districts are facing budget crunches, classroom sizes are increasing as districts 'combine' classes to save money on teachers' salaries. Now, the remaining teacher has to deal not only with more kids, fewer resources, and special needs kids, but their pets as well?

The next thing you know, people are going to be asking "How come nobody wants to be a teacher?"

Well, cause the people who want to teach want to do just that - teach. NOT MC a circus.

One child, one pet in a classroom, not a big issue. Ten kids, ten dogs in a classroom... Is there a limit? And, what about kids with allergies?

Thanks for your input.

:hi:

A pet is treated differently within the family structure/pack and has different responsibilities than a service animal. After retirement, that's a different matter.

I have no doubt that the dog improves the quality of this child's life immeasurably. My only question (prompted by the comments before mine); what about the children with allergies (serious allergies and asthma)? How do we weigh who's needs are greater?

I really don't know.

I am in awe of the trainer who could make the dog understand that the little person tugging on the leash is to be disobeyed, but just the opposite for the big person. Half the time my furbabies don't listen to me at all, let alone grasp such nuances.

As someone noted above, he does have a sad look in his eyes. :(

and I've seen that exact same expression on her face while her tail is going a mile a minute. She is REALLY good at getting what she wants with those eyes.

I thought the cutest pic was the one with Caleb trying to walk into the screen door and Chewey not letting him!

I have SO MANY kids with terrible allergies in my schools. If we start introducing dogs, I'm going to have some very serious problems. Anyone have an answer?

dogs should consider using dogs like labradoodles who are pretty hypo-allergenic.

I know how miserable it can be to have allergic reactions to dogs.

by ramping down the diet to more and more fresh fruit and vegetables and away from wheat, dairy, spices, etc. It may not work in every case, but dietary treatments, up to and including fasts, should be a part of the arsenal, and, in my view, tried before pharmacology.

And that's not very often.

time for people who are breeding and training service dogs to think about using labradoodles.

I developed allergies to a few types of animals when I was about 12. I'm usually ok except for horses and shedding seasons with my kitties (I became desensitized to their dander). The last 3 dogs I had were "hypo-allergenic". If I am surrounded by too many unfamiliar cats or dogs, I suffer terribly and need an antihistamine but you cannot ask parents to dose their kids so another child can bring his service animal to class.

dogs there to help them out.

It isn't just allergies- there're kids who are very dog phobic.

I was severely dog phobic, I have an anxiety disorder and dogs have been one of the things that triggered it. I'm not so bad with dogs as an adult but part of it is that as an adult I know I always have the power to get away, I don't have to stay where the dog is if I'm nervous, I can remove myself from the situation. As a small child, trapped in a classroom with a dog? I would have lost it and had a full-fledged screaming fit panic attack.

would screech. She was an odd person (and I really mean that)and although afraid of dogs, had ceramic dog statues in her home. :shrug:

I, on the other hand, always had dogs, from the moment I was born until about a few weeks before I was married. My beloved poodle died and I decided that for the time being, kitties would keep me company. When my first son was about a year and half, my xMIL took him out in my neighborhood for a walk in his stroller. She came back in a panic because someone's dog darted at her and she told me how she freaked out. Within 2 weeks we had a puppy to counter balance her reaction so my son would never know that fear. :) Granted, we had to deal with her phobia with our dog when she came to visit, but her visits never lasted very long!

:rofl:

I hope these families take this all the way to the Supreme Court and win. :grr:

Do they get to sue too? Who wins then?

And if you don't think they're real, let me show you all the inhalers I have to keep track of in one school.

We had to get rid of peanuts because of the peanut allergy kids. :shrug:

It's a huge problem. And with our really, really limited nursing support - it's a worry.

we had to ban latex balloons, latex gloves, and we replaced all the band-aids in all the first aid kits in all the classrooms.

If it weren't for the kids with asthma, I would fully support the dog in the classroom. As a teacher, I don't see the disruption factor as an issue at all, it's manageable. And I do support mainstreaming because as was noted, one can need special ed services and simultaneously be gifted. We've had students increase their IQ 20 full points after spending years and years in a self-contained classroom for special ed kids and then spending a few years being mainstreamed in our high school. A self-contained room isn't the best environment for all kids with disabilities or other issues.

But when one student's accommodations creates medical problems for the other students - and prevents us from providing adequate accommodations for their medical needs, it might be inappropriate to introduce that into the school.

The kids would get it after a while. I wouldn't be worried about disruption. But the allergy thing is serious.

Yes, I forgot about latex. That's even worse than peanuts. I had a kid who could break into hives just touching a section of table where a pile of balloons HAD BEEN. Bad.

Which child takes precedence? The autistic child, the child with allergies or asthma, the child who is scared to death of dogs, or simply the daily coping of the class with another distracting, space consuming(I mean this in the literal sense, the size of many classrooms is tiny, tiny) addition to the class?

To many drawbacks for this to be a good fit in a classroom.