Service Dog banned from school

Can't play the video, but there's LOTS of reasons why this can happen- some legitimate, some not.

I'm trying to figure out what the legitimate reasons are that the school can say he can't have the dog with him. It doesn't give him any unfair advantage over anyone else, it just allows him to have better access to the same things that his non disabled peers have. His peers can always hear a fire alarm go off, he may not be able to, and the dog can alert him to that. His peers can hear a train coming, or a car driving towards them, which he can't do either, so clearly it wouldn't be safe for him to walk to or from school either without the dog (although he may be bused, if other students in his neighborhood walk, it would enable him to do things more like his nondisabled peers if he could do that too). So, I understand the dog isn't necessary for him to access the academic curriculum, but the dog can help access many of the other things that occur in a regular school day, and he has every right to have access to that as well. 

The legitimate reasons would be things like the dog is not well-trained, the student can't document his disability, or it's causing an excessive amount of disruption in the classroom (back to the first item). It could also be the school is just being stupid. Just too hard to tell at a distance.

I'm an SD user myself, and I'm hearing a LOT of disturbing stories righ tnow from gatekeepers about badly behaved 'service dogs' for invisible (and hence, not something that can be proven by a gatekeeper without risking legal action) disabilities, which has taught me to take stories like this with a grain of salt until i've read more about it for myself.


Pwca (and Mal, SDIT)

ORIGINAL: Pwca

The legitimate reasons would be things like the dog is not well-trained, the student can't document his disability, or it's causing an excessive amount of disruption in the classroom (back to the first item). It could also be the school is just being stupid. Just too hard to tell at a distance.

I'm an SD user myself, and I'm hearing a LOT of disturbing stories righ tnow from gatekeepers about badly behaved 'service dogs' for invisible (and hence, not something that can be proven by a gatekeeper without risking legal action) disabilities, which has taught me to take stories like this with a grain of salt until i've read more about it for myself.


Pwca (and Mal, SDIT)

Ah, I understand now some of the reasons, but at least in the video the dog appeared well trained and not to be causing trouble. It rested calmly under his chair.
I understand you didn't see the video, and I have heard stories of people trying to pass dogs of as services who may not really be for invisible disabilities, but I don't think this is the case. His mother stated that he has an IEP because he's deaf. I haven't actually seen his IEP of course, as far as I can tell, he does appear to have a legitimate disability.

Okay. Then it's probably a legitimate complaint on their part- I'm just snarky today and can't find the energy to get upset on anyone else's behalf.  

I watched the video clip yesterday, and yes he does have a disability. But they were very clear, the dog is not to help his education, he is to help him hear things or be aware of sound. The boy has a full time interpreter at school and I am sure other helpers to get through his day. They say the dog is to help him more with being independent in the world, which I understand. I am see sawing on this one.
 
If the dog is a legitimate service dog, then he can not be kept out and the school will likely fall flat on it's face for trying to do so, but I fail to see what sounds the dog is going to help him with in school if he has an interpreter? The biggest thing that turned me off was when he was asked how this was effecting him he said that he was so "worried" about the dog not being with him that he was starting to fail some classes? I guess I am not seeing his need to have the dog at school with him. And if he is in some classes with other disabled children I would think the dog would be a huge distraction to some of the children there.
 
On the other hand I believe in the rights of the disabled, so I am having a hard time sorting this one out. Will be interesting to see what happens.
 
Dawn

Some of the reasons service dogs are not common in schools.  One deals with student age and responsibility.  Liability issues come into play.  Second, other students may have allergies. ADA requires reasonable accommodation;  so who gets accommodated the illness or the hearing impairment.   Third it is an issue of FAPE, free appropriate public education.  An IEP that includes a full time interpreter/aide would enable a student to assess general curriculum.  Yes issues of independence need to be addressed, but the basic program could be appropriate.  You have essentially two different laws at work.... ADA and IDEIA.  IDEIA will likely have presedence since it is educational access under discussion and IDEIA covers all issues related to FAPE.  IDEIA is the "stronger" law in school related issues.

My son just got a new student in his 5th grade class who is severely disabled and has a service dog.  The dog is not allowed in class (right now) because of a couple of students who are allergic to dogs.  The dog sleeps outside the classroom.  At first, the parents of the allergic children were told to medicate their children with benadryl daily.  When they opposed this idea, the dog was removed from the classroom.  Now the parent of this disabled child is threatening a lawsuit.  It will be interesting to see how this one turns out too.
BTW, my son was extremely disappointed the dog was removed from class, as he was looking forward to having a "class dog".

I have seen people with severe animal allergies...and most meds for them make a person feel even LESS like learning than the allergy. Certainly a child sneezing and having a severe allergy attack is VERY uncomfortable and unable to learn as efficently?
 
My dd has a whole deaf class at her school (I guess our school is the deaf child center for our ISD) and none of them have dogs?
 
They all stay together and have a few teachers/aides etc that really seem to help them out daily. They are a great bunch of kids!
 
From reading the responses (in lieu of the article) I have to say..."what" is the dog helping him do that the assistant cannot?
 
Worried? Sounds like someone trying to excuse failing grades! lol...
 
Given the way some kids act these days...bullying and whatnot...I'd be GLAD to leave my dog at home and out of harm's way!

There was a "deaf class" at my school when I was growing up, too. The other classes were taught sign language so we could communicate with them (a few of them read lips, but most weren't very good at it). None of them needed a dog to be self-reliant - one of the girls was the best handball player at the school. Whupped me every game []

If the school decides that the dog does more harm for the classroom than good for the individual child, I think they're perfectly within their rights to ask the child to leave his furry friend at home.

Interesting situation, hmm. When I was in grad school, an adult student in a statistics class, who was blind, had a service dog. He (or she?) just layed on the floor and dozed through the whole class. God I envied that dog!! But the student was an adult and this was a university setting, although a public university and she clearly needed the dog to navigate around campus. As someone mentioned, it's going to be a case of competing legislation. 

ORIGINAL: mrv

Some of the reasons service dogs are not common in schools.  One deals with student age and responsibility.  Liability issues come into play.  Second, other students may have allergies. ADA requires reasonable accommodation;  so who gets accommodated the illness or the hearing impairment.   Third it is an issue of FAPE, free appropriate public education.  An IEP that includes a full time interpreter/aide would enable a student to assess general curriculum.  Yes issues of independence need to be addressed, but the basic program could be appropriate.  You have essentially two different laws at work.... ADA and IDEIA.  IDEIA will likely have presedence since it is educational access under discussion and IDEIA covers all issues related to FAPE.  IDEIA is the "stronger" law in school related issues.

Yes, the IEP does allow the student to access the general curriculum as much as possible, but no IEP can ever really give a student access to the hidden curriculum (as in, all the other stuff that occurs in school outside of the learning, and there's lot's of it). Sure, he learns everything everyone else is learning, but he also misses a lot of things other students get that the dog may allow him to gain access to, albeit in a different manner. Part of his program should include his gaining independence as well, and teaching his how to use what resources he has available. If it doesn't, i'd say his program is crap, but that's another arguement. Anyway, the dog can and should be a part of him doing that. Oh wait, I forgot that it's not about providing the best education, it's about appropriate. That one always trips me up. However, and I could be wrong, I thought that the rest of the students really didn't count. It's about the disabled student, not the rest of the students.

So severe allergic or phobic students dont have rights too? 
 
ADA is a civil rights law.  IDEIA is the stronger of the two laws and typically takes precidence over ADA.  And yes it has to be about appropriate verses the best because resources are limited.
 
The majority of service dogs in schools address access to general curriculum in a way that does not appear to be at work in this situation.  Parent specifically stated in the video the dog does not have an educational purpose.  Granted the kid needs to learn other skills, but the primary focus during the school day should be curriculum based because that is what is required. 
 
I would also hazard a guess that this individual is fairly compentent in a familiar environment based on the statements made bout his adaptation to the cochlear implant.  Using the dog in other less famliar environments would provide some real world training.  I expect that attending after school events etc. would not be a problem for the team.

ORIGINAL: leslie__chessies
*snipped*
 At first, the parents of the allergic children were told to medicate their children with benadryl daily. 

 
I can't believe they actually suggested that as the most common side effect of Benadryl is drowsiness. If the parents followed that suggestion, there'd be a class full of sleeping kids.
 
I'm all for service dogs and what not but if the school can meet the child's needs, and even the parents state that the dog isn't necessary for school, then I don't see why there's a big stink being made over it.