 |
 |
I haven't heard of this story either. Nevertheless, regardless of the relationship between the service dog and the boy, the school has a legal obligation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to provide full access and accommodation to his education. If that means having his service dog present in the school and classroom, then that's what should be allowed. The fact that the school is conducting an investigation into whether the service dog is needed is absolutely ridiculous. The school administrators are really opening themselves up to a human rights complaint under the ADA. Darren Cooper -----Original Message----- From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Thomas Neuville Sent: Sunday, January 14, 2007 7:54 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: service dog turned away from school I am not aware of this story. I do however have a stray comment. Service animals are way over used. It has become a vehicle for agencies to raise money through the use of images of pitiful people and cute dogs. The trend has gotten out of hand and is contributing to the deviancy-image juxtaposition of people as animals. When pushed as to the value of the service animal most service dog providers will respond that the person needs a relationship and the dog provides that. This is a problem of relationship not service. Just thought I'd throw that in. Thomas Neuville ________________________________ From: The Disability-Research Discussion List on behalf of ryan parrey Sent: Sun 1/14/2007 5:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: service dog turned away from school Dear Colleagues, I have not seen any discussion of this on listservs but did see an interesting story on, of all places, the program Geraldo: At Large. It seems that in the state of New York the service dog of a high school student who is deaf is not being allowed to accompany the boy in school. The dog alerts the boy to sounds he doesn't hear (cars, sirens, alarms, sometimes people calling his name). His mother reported that due to the particular nature their relationship it is important that they be in contact as much as possible to build and nurture that relationship. Obviously he feels like he needs the dog and whoever provided it feels like he needs it as well. However, the school has been arguing that he does not need it in school. The environment, they claim, is free of the sorts of sounds the dog provides assistance with. Apparently the school is conducting an investigation to determine whether or not he needs the god in their building. More than just denying rights to access it strikes me that the school board is denying the boy and the service dog their relationship, or at least the neccessary time to develop the sort of relationship they should have. I was unable to get too many details from the story. Has anyone else heard of this story or have any thoughts on the matter? regards, Ryan ________________End of message______________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about the list administratione should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. ________________End of message______________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about the list administratione should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page. ________________End of message______________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about the list administratione should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.