Deaf Child Denied entry into Westbury School

My Ex's mom , dad and stepdad were all deaf, their friends all deaf, I have many of them for customers and never once did I ever see any of them with a Dog. They all communicated well and spoke or wrote to communicate, they drove cars, opened doors answered doors just fine and all without a dog. I can understand the need if he wanted one in his home for protection, in lieu of a Light alert system or whatnot but I wouldn't see how a dog would aid this kid in a classroom.

If they mean that he must have it with him to bond for a short period of time that would be different. If it was someone who was blind that too would be different. If he's in a regular school I also would imagine he was able to read lips very well already.

I keep saying this and I think people are ignoring me when I do, the child does not need the dog to participate in class, if I were to stick him in regular trials as you would a student without disabilities, he would probably perform as good or better than the student with no disabilities. The child is not mentally disabled; or physically disabled to the point where he would require a dog. His hearing aids allow him to hear people; it's his choice to have it on. The school supplies interpreters for him so that they catch anything. The dog would not catch something like columbine before anyone else because if 2 kids pull out guns in a different class room and the dog is in another; he's not going to see through walls now is he?

As to the advanced warning that the dog would give the child; I think it's ludacris. If the child does not have his hearing aid on, then he turned it off. If it doesn't have batteries, he should say something because no one is going to know. Even if he couldn't here and he was paying attention in class and a fire broke out; I highly doubt ANYONE is going to leave him in that classroom unaware or he's not going to notice 20-30 something children eradicly get up or the flashing lights from all the fire alarms. He is not blind.

The only real purpose of the hearing dog is for the boy to bond with it... What makes the guide dog different than a pet? I mean, I bond with my dog; but he's only my pet. Should I be able to bring a dog to school because I feel that I should bond with my dog?

Shattered OUT...

Legally, the real issue here isn't even if he needs it or not, it is the family hasn't gone through proper channels

Seems the school asked for the dogs certification and the parents don't have it. Sounds like the dog is not a true assitance animal with the proper paper certifications.

I have a dog in CGC training, which is required to then become a therapy dog. She can then be accepted into groups that organize trips to hospitals and nursing homes. That only gives us insurance for any accidents and the *certification* to be in therapeutic areas. I could not send her with my son to school and expect her to be given entry.

An assistance dog must have proper paperwork. I have a friend who has panic attacks. Her dog is a certified assitance dog that is certified to fly at her feet, uncrated. She MUST carry his certifications. She must carry her doctor orders.

Legally, the issue is the parents aren't doing this by the book. They are using a media blitz to get people to say "Poor deaf boy! Bad school!" With proper paperwork, schools will relent. You just better cross your T's, and dot your I's. Otherwise, they CAN say no

Originally posted by llpoolej
Legally, the real issue here isn't even if he needs it or not, it is the family hasn't gone through proper channels

A tip of the hat to you, for seeing through all the emotion and staying focused on the real roadblock here---one his parents have not even bothered to tackle.

It's one thing if school was a public space, but it's not. Like a hospital or an airport, it is a special area, where the public authorities are trying to achieve a specific goal. To accomplish that task, they are expected to limit access to maintain the environment and still achieve their mission.

One of their missions is to serve every student, and maintain an educational environment. The school is saying that the parents are not cooperating in working for those goals.

Schools and federal buildings are NOT public property. They are private and are not bound to the same laws as public properties. They do not have to have the same accesses as public properties. Close, but not the same.

What the ADA can mandate publicly, doesn't always apply to schools and federal buildings. If the dog is a trained and licensed (with proper paperwork) service dog, and the child's doctor has a medical order showing the necessity, they will probably allow it. There would have to be prior IEP meetings and a plan made up for it.

The parents cannot legally expect just to send a dog to school without proper procedure. BELIEVE me it doesn't work that way.

I can't even get my kid back to school with casts on and a wheelchair as they deem it unsafe. That is after 3 IEP meetings. I won't be going to the press as I don't want to make a spectacle of my kid. I will be going through private channels though. Also PROPER legal channels.

Thank you for that information llpoolej, that is something that I was not aware of and it only strengthes my stance against the parents trying to get the dog into the school. I thought that there was a legal reason why they were not allowed to bring the dog into the facilities, but I was not aware of which law prevented that.

Shattered OUT...

I predict that the mom is either going to run for a political office, start a PAC, or 501 -C3. This is sooo much PR going on here it's crazy. In the news clip i saw he was walking the dog in the park and his cell phone in his pocket rang and the dog stopped him and "bonded" with the dogs by bending down petting him and clearly saying "good dog" Is this weird to anyone else?? Why is he training his dog to hear a cell phone in his pocket. Cell phone vibrate, why can hearing people feel the vibrate and the deaf kid can't??!!(Please don't give me, he might not always have it on him.) Second and more important he had a CELL PHONE...a FLIP PHONE. How many people know a deaf person with a flip phone. Everyone i know has one that is super text friendly (Envy, blackberry, etc)
He spoke clearly, in my experience, the clear the speech the more hearing the person has/had. Does anyone know what is the kids hearing range? Can he hear the bells at school, a car horn, or whatever. The kid has at least one hearing aide. People don't ware a hearing aide to look cool, so the kid can hear, but again what levels??
How much of this circus is for the kid's needs and how much is it for the Mom's motives?

I saw the child again today outside with his parents and sister. The mother looked like she was screaming at the Administrators and they were just standing their talking to her calmly and not responding to her yells and atrocious behavior.

From what I heard, they were told that they could not enter with the dog. The child can return to school, but he needs to leave the dog at home.

Shattered OUT...

Shattered, do you know if this dog is a certified service dog? Do you know if the boy has a doctors order of need?

The parents are being idiots. The old saying of "You can't fight city hall" applies here. At least, you can't fight them like THIS. They are assuring that their son will receive less services and help than had they been rational. Now they will give him the bare minimum to get by and the parents will have to fight for it

It is a political dance with schools. They aren't being good dance partners. Without the proper paperwork, they are just being loud jerks without a leg to stand on

The dog as far as I can tell, is a service dog, at the very least; he has the muzzle and has the red cover on his back and all. However, I doubt that they actually have the doctor's order saying that the child requires the animal to participate in class.

The only reason that I have heard for the dog is that the child's disability is the only reason for the dog being there, no doctor's order or anything. As if because the boy has a hearing disability; he can bring the dog for "bonding".

Shattered OUT...

OK, just because he has a muzzle(never seen a service dog muzzled before) and a red coat, doesn't mean he is a *certified* service dog. And, legally, in a situation like this doctors orders are needed.

I know people who have panic attacks and have service dogs that can fly with them in the airplane. They MUST have on their person the doctors orders and the dogs certifications. The dogs also must have on the service dog vest.

All I have to say, is that the parents have handled this very badly. They are making spectacles of themselves and aren't even in the right

New development! It seems that my school district just got handed down a 150 million dollar lawsuit.

These kid's parents are really trying to make it to easy street.

Newsday article

Newsday is the respected News media to get information around here on the Island, although it's extremely biased against schools and the likes.

Shattered OUT...

Sounds like the very irresponsible mother should have maybe made sure that service dogs would be allowed wherever her child may have to go, before purchasing the dog; which is really at this point just a 'luxury'(for lack of a more sensitive term).

Their is no bond between the dog and the child yet. There is no relationship. It hasn't been established. It is not a necessity at this point. The mother was well aware of the interepturs, provided by the school, which is more than enough for the child to perform adequately and safely in the halls and classrooms.

If the relationship was already solidified, and the service dog became an accustomed quality of his life, I would imagine the school and ultimatley the committee, to allow the dog in class.

Everything seems to point to his mother.

As for personal experiences with service dogs, I've met many seeing dogs who were not 100% best behavior. Dogs need to be retrained periodically, as there training diminishes over time. The owner of the service dog has a great responsibility considering their animals. They MUST make sure not befriend him, or otherwise allow the dog to become interested in anything other than it's training. (service animals are a disservice in my opinion, but for another thread) So there is no guarantee that the owners are responsible.

This dog needs to returned to whomever she purchased it from, and the kid should just graduate school like the thousands of other deaf children who walked the halls prior to his special existance.

Woof

A $150 million lawsuit, well, who would have believed it?

I have to say that I find this kind of behaviour utterly disgusting. Parents who are willing to exploit their child's disability to engineer an attempt at a big payout at the cost of every other citizen deserve to lose the case and be faced with a monster legal bill. They're probably the kind who complain bitterly about their tax bill as well.

Selfish doesn't even come close.

Thanks for the update Shattered - a fascinating if somewhat depressing insight into human nature.

we are two seniors at clarke HS and honestly this whole affair is stupid..for all you people who dont know anything, here's some info:

1) this kid has attended the east meadow school district all his life and has never needed a dog before...why now?
2)my sister is in his grade and she has been able to talk to him normally before...everyone who knows him has been able to talk to him and he has been able to hear them and converse properly.
3) He has hearing aids
4) Our school is the TINIEST thing in the world...the size of other school's football fields in fact. You can never walk through the crowded hallways.. a dog is definitely not gonna help that matter.
5) People are both allergic to dogs and terrified of them
6) Their excuse for the dog is that it can alert him in case of fire drills or emergencies. Well, if you see a thousand kids running out of the building, it's instinct to follow. And I'm sure someone will help him anyway.
7) there are interpreters and an amazing boces program
8) we have blind and deaf students in our school who dont even ask for a dog they can function perfectly.
9) this is just giving our school a bad rep...our school is obviously not the best..but we have some good students and sports teams..for example: has anyone heard that our own students have become finalists of INTEL? probably not because everyone is too engrossed in this stupid case.
10) by the way..the mother is CRAZY (so we've heard from other students who have seen her interviews). This whole case must've been set up to take money.
11) He was never banned from school, he just wasnt allowed to enter with the dog. And we always see him attending class now.

there were more arguments..just cant remember them right now.