What inspired me to get this blog up and running was a recent story on the news last week. A twelve year old boy in Virginia, who can potentially have up to 20 seizures a day, is not allowed to bring his seizure dog to school with him. The question which looms in my mind is why this child is prevented from doing so. The dog is ADA approved for seizure training and handling. It seems that the fight is over the state guidelines. The state's ruling is questionable because they are citing the child's ability to "handle" the dog. Is it that cut and dry? Are the state's concerns only based on the ability of the dog and its handler? Or is it possible the unspoken concern may be related to the fears of other students and parents in the community who don't understand the need for the dog and its special abilities?
There are only two viable concerns I see for parents: that their child has a severe allergy to the dog; or that the dog may misbehave or cause their child harm. These dogs can react to the seizure with a loud bark, licking of their owner etc. However, if the school educated the teachers and students as to the behavior of the dog - it should not be an issue. These dogs have the ability to sense within minutes when a seizure may occur, alert them, and ultimately to keep their owners safe. In some instances, the dogs wear magnets that may help prevent the child from having a seizure. No human has that ability. I feel for this child and hope he gets the education he deserves along with the acceptance from his community and state.
There is an interesting article in the Fall 2010 issue of the Epilepsy Advocate magazine relating to the studies of this very same issue. Here are the links below:
http://www.silobreaker.com/boy-cant-bring-service-dog-to-school-5_2264264981354643456
http://www.epilepsyadvocate.com/includes/pdf/EA_Magazine_Fall_2010.pdf
Anyone have a seizure dog or know someone that does? If you can think of a reason why you would want to prevent a seizure dog from accompanying a child to school - please let me know. I look forward to your viewpoints and feedback!
The only other reasons I can imagine to not let the boy have the dog would be 1)the possible health risk of the dog "going" in the school & the required cleanup, or 2) the disruption to the class to periodically take the dog outside for a bathroom break, or 3) the overall disruption a dog may bring to the other kids. You know, kids love animals & would want to pet, play, etc.
ReplyDeleteJust playing devil's advocate but I can't really see how this would be an issue. Is there any precedent for seeing eye dogs & kids in school? Kind of seems like a similar issue....
Thanks for writing, great to hear your feedback. I can understand those objections and it is important for people to share.
ReplyDeleteI did some research as to the precedent of seeing eye dogs vs. seizure dogs. There are laws specifying that the blind do have rights to have dogs accompany them in any public venue including school systems. However, there are no laws applicable for seizure dogs. Maybe some voices need to be heard to advocate for this cause!
. There are a lot valid parental concerns having any kind of dog in class. The thing to know is that these dogs are trained especially for this purpose. With an orientation, the students and teachers could learn the basic rules of having the dog.
ReplyDeleteIf you have never seen one, a seizure can be a frightening episode. People have different reactions while watching a seizure. I wonder how parents react when hearing the child describe what they see. There are a variety of seizures and the teachers and children would have to be educated as to how they are to handle the situation. Having the dog in the class would make it easier for the class and teacher to be prepared. The dog has the ability to notify the class before the seizure and that really helps. Many dogs will tell others the seizure is coming by barking loudly. It must also be very hard for the teacher to handle a group of students while the seizure is happening. It is not easy!! If the students are able to handle the “during” process, I think they could handle a few rules as to how much the can play with the dog.