Ok. I did it. I did what everyone tells you not to do and I read the comments on our news story. There are some points that I would like to clear up: 1) Because of my sons age, he is unable to be the dog handler. Children typically take over this duty around their teenage years, but I am hoping that with the right practice and training that this may be a possibility for us a year or two sooner; only time will tell. 2) Paris is not muzzled; she wears a Gentle Leader to assist with her training. It does not hurt her nor is it too tight. I pinky promise. 3) According to ADA, dog allergies or fear of dogs are not reason enough to deny a service dogs action. I obviously do not want another child to suffer any kind of allergic reaction or medical condition if they were to come into contact with Paris, and if this is a real, serious issue for anyone I would definitely be willing to come to some kind of resolution. I can assure you that I will be taking every possible measure to ensure she is well-groomed and as dander-free as possible. BUT - the school did send out a notice at the beginning of the year so children with fears/allergies would simply be placed in a different homeroom. 4) The school district is technically acting within their rights of the law by denying any responsibility for the dog. The ADA law essentially protects them from having service dogs, forgive me for lack of a better term, dumped on them. This does, however, not mean that they dont have the OPTION to choose otherwise. This information did not make it into the article, but there are many other school districts, some also in MA, that accommodate these service animals. Franklin is simply just choosing not to for reasons that I am unsure of. 4) I am not looking for money from the school district nor will allowing the 1:1 aide to handle the dog cost the school district a dime. I have offered to provide the training, the liability coverage, the potty breaks and/or clean-up, etc. I have provided them a thorough information packet outlining a typical day for the service dog (which essentially means she will be laying by Austins feet unless navigating the hallways to go to a different room or alerting to a seizure) with nearly 10 references included (this was in JULY). The school district has yet to confirm if they have even spoken to the provided references or made any attempt at researching how possible this outcome really would be. All I am asking is that they TRY. TRY to allow my childs EXISTING 1:1 aide to accommodate his Special Needs. Thats it. I would like to close this status by confirming that for months I have been trying to work collaboratively with all members of the school district and I keep hitting roadblocks. Either my phone calls and emails go unanswered or ignored, or my concerns are not listened to. I have tapped into any resources I can find and at this point, I am running out of ways in which I can help them help themselves. I have heard people say children have been living with epilepsy for years and didnt have service animals in school and to that I have only one response: people have also been DYING from epilepsy for years. That is not a chance I am willing to take and I will continue to provide any life-saving tactics that I can possibly provide for my child. I have said this before and I will say it again: if you could gain even a little bit of control over something previously uncontrollable and this also meant saving your childs life, would you do it? Im sure there are yess all around.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 09:59:43 +0000