My name is Dana. I joined this forum because I stumbled upon this discussion. I am a severe asthmatic that suffers unpredicatable life threatening asthma attacks that also cause vertigo attacks with loss of balance following the attacks. Last July I got very sick. I was a prisoner in my house trying to care for my 2 and 4 year old sons by myself. After 3 courses of steriods and 2 months of treatment I wasn't getting better. I had been training my belgian sheppard since she was a puppy to do therapy work. One day in late August 2007, I decided to train my dog Storm to be my service dog (asthma alert, mobility assistance, medical assistance). My point here is that I have severe asthma with complications. I am allergic to dogs and cats. Yet I live with 2 cats and a dog. I know that they do not affect me because I've gone to live elsewhere for 3 weeks at a time and I experience no change in my asthma and allergies. I keep my dog and 2 cats clean. They all get a weekly bath to minimise the animal dander. A bath within 48 hours of visiting a hospital is the accepted standard for a therapy dog to be brought into a hospital to visit sick patients and their families. The kids with severe asthma can request a schedule change or new room assignment. Those kids with asthma under the ADA have the right to be accomdated by moving them to another room or another school within the district if another room is not available.
I strongly believe that the hearing alert service dog should be allowed into the classroom and that steps should be taken to minimise the animal dander (as per good service dog ediquitte) and to accomidate everyone's needs. Case in point, I take my service dog to the allergy and asthma doctor's office and he has no problem with her being there. My asthama and allergy doctor thinks that service dogs trained to assist asthmatics is a great idea; and he's no dummy. My doctor is one of the most reccomended names in my city. Service dogs and asthmatics can co-exist without taking the drastic step of shaving the poor dog or banishing it from service. Just so the complaintant knows if they are living in the US, they have grounds to file a complaint with the US Department of Justice. They can also call the police. One call to 911 about a service access denial gets the school in more hot water than it ever bargained for. I called my kid's school principal when I was denied access to my son's classroom to volunteer unless I left my dog at home. I informed them that I had just gotten off the phone with the US Department of Justice and that they had informed me that I had grounds to file a complaint against the school, I was immediately granted access to my child's classroom to volunteer with my service dog at my side.
Dana and Storm (SD) aka The Dynamic Duo
