When I was a kid, the movie Snoopy Come Home stuck with me, haunted me. Snoopy tries to visit the beach, go to the library, and ride on a train, only to be taunted by ominous "no dogs allowed" signs. He tries to visit a sick little girl named Lila in the hospital, who needs his company to feel better, but again those "no dogs allowed" signs thwart Snoopy.
All he wants to do is be with a little girl who needs his love, and a heartless institution refuses to see the healing he could bring.
A news story this week brought back all the memories of that childhood trauma about dogs not being allowed to help a sick child, but this time the story was real, not fiction.
Most of you know about my love affair with autism service dogs. Service dogs help children with autism make emotional connections, help soothe them as they negotiate the stressful world of neurotypicals, prevent them from running into a street, and act as a retriever when a child with autism wanders away (as they are apt to do). Organizations like Dogwish help families raise money for autism service dogs. I sooo wanna get one of those dogs for Nick.
But if I do get a dog for Nick, it is questionable whether or not his school would allow his canine companion on campus.
Six-year-old Kaleb Drew's family is fighting for Kaleb's right to bring his service dog to school. The school cites issues such as other students' pet allergies in their argument against Kaleb's yellow Lab, Chewey. And yet, according to Alejandro Miyar from the Department of Justice, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, "a person with autism would be considered a person with a disability in nearly all cases, and a service animal is any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to someone with a disability." And thus you would think that Kaleb would be allowed to bring his dog to school. The Villa Grove School District in Illinois doesn't see it that way.
So it goes on to a judge to decide in November. My only hope is that the courts will see the healing potential of service dogs and force schools to pull up their "no dogs allowed" signs.
Snoopy needs to be allowed in the building.
1 comment:
School districts are notorious for ignoring the ADA, Rehab Act and IDEA. The law is on the side of the family. Doesn't mean the court won't rule incorrectly, of course. Keeping fingers crossed.
I did a lot of research on service dog laws when we were training Sherlock as a service dog for me.
If you ever need more info on service dogs, I can send you more info.
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