SayWhatClub March 2007 Newsletter

We started telling the school district about 18 months ago that JT was on a waiting list for a hearing assistance dog. The school district immediately told us the dog would not be allowed in the school and that guide dogs had already been denied access.

They harassed us for months about the dog. When we didn't receive the dog after a year, they settled down and left us alone. In the beginning of December, I received a call that Simba was going to be partnered with JT and I set up a meeting with the new high school principal. Mr. Voels is from a special education background and appeared to have no problem with having Simba in school. We even discussed having an assembly to show the students what Simba does and educate them about service dog etiquette. However, I had to tell him about the district's reaction. Once he phoned the district offices, it was all over, of course.

The first day we brought Simba to school, Mr. Voels and one of the Assistant Principals behaved in a very aggressive and threatening manner. They eventually called the police. I told the police to look up the laws since they had no clue what to do in this situation. After an hour, we left because I had to go to work and I kept the twins home from school that day. The second day, they locked all but one door to the school. Trying to make a point, JT removed his processors and when Mr. Voels started to tell JT that the dog was being denied access, JT asked him to write down what he was saying because he is deaf and wasn't wearing his processors.

Now, JT was with Simba, Jessica and several friends. Mr. Voels refused to write anything down and told the kids to "Stay here". They waited outside in the freezing cold, trying to figure out what was going on. Well, Mr. Voels waited 30 minutes for JT's interpreter to arrive so that he could sign to JT that Simba was being denied access. This was all caught on film because the media was there.

All of this appeared in the newspaper and on TV. The reporters were furious with the school district and have been advocating for JT and Simba ever since.

For two weeks, JT brought Simba daily to the school and he was denied access. We were in the middle of a media blitz, so we were doing interviews in the morning or at night and then they would come with us to school and report on the denial of access. Every day, JT had to turn Simba over to us so we could bring him home. It started to really stress JT out pretty badly. So for the last two weeks, we have simply informed the principal and two APs that Simba is not present due to their illegal activities of denying access. Twice I was wearing a microphone -- once from CNN and once from Geraldo Rivera's show. Both times we got audio of the denial of access.

In the midst of all of this chaos, the NYS Division for Human Rights contacted us and told us they wanted to take the case against the school district. We thought this was terrific. They served a complaint on the district. Unfortunately, we discovered that the Division for Human Rights' laws were written in 1964. Not only are they not compliant with ADA or the New York State Civil Rights laws (which are actually better than ADA ), we discovered that the Human Rights laws are totally discriminatory. They require a corrective hearing device with speech discrimination of less than 40% verified by an audiologist's test. Vision is also required to be corrected and under a certain percentage. Since no law can mandate that anyone use corrective hearing or vision devices, these laws are useless. We put out a press release stating that we appreciated the efforts of the Division for Human Rights office but we felt they could not help us and we suggested they do a complete review of their laws and bring them into compliance with current federal and state civil rights laws. They are still trying to push it, so we may end up suing the NYS Division for Human Rights for discrimination. Stay tuned on that one.

In addition, several politicians have been working behind the scenes and are putting pressure on the state Attorney General's office to resolve this issue. We also just found out that a federal agency -- presumably the U.S. Department of Justice is putting "heavy pressure" on the state AG to resolve this matter. Since we are fed up with the whole business and want to get Simba in school, we have just retained an attorney.

Pearl: Nancy , what are the ADA laws concerning service dogs in NYS?

Nancy : ADA is a federal law. It is not state specific. All states were to either make compliant laws or ADA will supersede a state law that is not compliant. ADA allows full public access for service animals, including in school.

Pearl: Do these laws apply to the public school?

Nancy : ADA applies to public schools and universities. The New York State Civil Rights law Section 47 also applies to public schools. In fact, in the N.Y. law, the words "guaranteed" and "without exception" are used. Very good words.

Pearl : What ultimately brought you and your family to decide on getting a service dog for JT?

Nancy : We have talked about getting JT a hearing assistance dog for many years actually. Even with the bilateral CIs, there are many sounds that JT does not hear in real life environments, especially when he is due for a mapping. ... The problem is that JT is 14 and there are not too many agencies that will give a service dog to anyone under 16. In fact, for most of these agencies, 18 is the age limit.

We also knew that if JT was not old enough and mature enough to control the dog himself, the dog would not be facilitated, which in JT's case would not make him more independent but rather more dependent. Our goal is to continue to provide steps toward independence for JT as he continues through high school and on to college and the real world. Since we knew there are always waiting lists for service animals, we applied 18 months ago to NEADS, which judges each youth applicant on their own individual merits. JT went for an interview and they were impressed with his maturity and willingness to accept further responsibility for a service dog.

P ear l : As we all know, service dogs are "trained" and well prepared for their job. What do you think the school is so concerned about?

Nancy : The problem is the Superintendent. He shows no interest in the needs of the district's disabled population, although he tries to put on a big show about it.

The truth is that most parents have to fight tooth and nail for every accommodation for our children. Also, the Superintendent keeps trying to spin this into a special education issue, which would be controlled by special education laws such as IDEA. However, this is not a special education issue and has nothing at all to do with special education law.

I think this situation is really about revenge. Eighteen months ago, I filed a formal complaint with the Commissioner of Education against the school district for IEP violations, Section 504 violations and discriminatory behavior. The school district was investigated and nailed big time. They were forced to buy expensive new equipment, i.e. television sets that are captioning capable, more FM systems, etc., and several teachers were disciplined as was the former Director of Special Education. They also had to prepare extra quarterly reports for the state Education Department for a year.

Pearl: The administration was aware for a whole year that you intended to obtain a service animal for your son. Did you offer to meet with the administration? Did they offer to meet with you and attempt to understand what or how a service dog would be utilized for JT? Did they even attempt to find out what accommodations might need to be made for JT and Simba?

Nancy : Actually, there were no formal meetings at that time. There were plenty of conversations however with the former Director of Special Education. Her whole issue was having to deal with parents who have kids with dog allergies. The ADA specifically states that both students have to be accommodated. There was also a telephone conversation with [FIRST NAME] Dillon, the Superintendent, and he hung up on me when I asked what the district policy was regarding service animals. According to both ADA and New York State law, pubic venues must amend their policy regarding animals to allow access to service animals. This has obviously not been done in our district. However, there are many districts on Long Island that have welcomed service dogs who have attended school with both students and teachers. Prior to Dillon's tenure as Superintendent, I'm told there was a blind girl at the school who attended with her guide dog. I'm also told that at one time there was a blind school board member who also attended meetings and school functions with a guide dog.

Pearl: Your son has returned to school minus Simba. How has that been going for JT?

Nancy : This whole situation has been very stressful for JT. His grades are dropping because he is no longer focused on school. He spends most of his day worrying about Simba home without him. Simba loves his work and is very good at it. He has even taught himself more sounds to which he alerts JT. For instance, JT's actual name is John. Since there are two Johns in the house (my husband), we decided that Simba would be taught to alert to "JT" which are his first and middle initials.

Simba has figured out that JT's real name is John and now also alerts when I just call John. He actually differentiates between John the child and John the adult. It's amazing. Also, he now alerts JT to trains. Simba was never taught to alert to trains, but I've seen him do it. Simba and JT have developed such an unbelievably close bond so quickly that even the trainer was surprised. They just seem to read each other very well. This is one reason why they both don't do very well when they are separated. At home and out and about with JT's friends, Simba is glued to his side. JT feels very confident and safe when he is with Simba and that was the point of getting the dog.

Pearl: With so many politicians involved as well as the State Attorney General's office, what do you think is holding up the process? And why?

Nancy : There is no practical enforcement of ADA or any of the state laws. If you file a complaint with any of the government agencies, they may or may not accept the complaint. If they do accept the complaint, it can take anywhere from 6 months to several years for the issue to be resolved. This will be my new point of focus after we get Simba into school and have filed our lawsuit.

It is an outrage that we have some wonderful laws on the books and that they are not immediately enforceable. What's the point? What the government is telling disabled people is that yes, they are being discriminated against, but they will have to suck it up and deal with it until the government gets around to doing something about it.

What I don't understand is why people with disabilities are putting up with this. It is beyond my comprehension how they even managed to get ADA passed since none of the various groups of disabled people have managed to join together to demand reasonable enforcement of the laws. So I'm starting in Albany . Our assemblyman will be taking me to Albany to speak to the Assembly and then hopefully the state Senate. In my opinion, there are too many government agencies involved anyway. There needs to be ONE PLACE to go to make a complaint and get fast resolution. That one agency would be able to draw on ADA and compliant state laws to enforce them without taking months to do so. Frankly, I'm fed up with having to fight these battles and JT is only 14. I personally don't understand why nothing has been accomplished in this area. But if I am doomed to fight battles, this one at least is worth fighting.