Active Autism Service Dog Cases

From Service Dog Training

I am currently watching the progress of two lawsuits on autism service dogs and their inclusion in the public school system. I explain on my page Service Dogs for Children why I think the use of autism service dogs by children in the classroom (or anywhere else for that matter) is not a good idea. Because of the widespread media coverage, I think the rulings on these cases will do a lot to influence public perception of autism service dogs for children.

The cases are both in Illinois:

• Columbia Community School Unit 4 vs. the Kalbfleisch family. The dog is an 11 month old Bouvier placed with a 5 year old boy who is entering preschool. The dog was trained by Wilderwood Service Dogs. The case was originally scheduled to be heard tomorrow but has been postponed until next week. The law in question is Illinois state law 105 ILCS 5/14-6.02. ^[1]

• Villa Grove School District vs. the Drew family. The dog is an approximately 2 year old yellow Labrador Retriever placed with a 6 year old boy entering the first grade. The dog was trained by Autism Service Dogs of America. A preliminary injunction was issued to allow the boy to take the dog to school until a hearing on Nov. 10th. This case also appears to be under Illinois state law. ^[2]

I will post updates on these cases as they become available.

References

1. ↑ http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/886128.html
2. ↑ http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/07/29/judge_rules_student_can_use_service_dog

--Tiffany Huggard-Lee 22:40, 18 August 2009 (CDT)

---

or read what others have said