Caleb is a seven-year-old boy with severe
autism. Nonverbal with a low cognitive
level, he uses communication cards to
interact with others. He also relies on a
service dog to address symptoms associated
with his autism. For instance, Caleb has
a tendency to “elope,” which means that he runs off,
especially when he gets upset or wants to escape an
environment that is overwhelming.
When he becomes anxious, he shrieks, paces, plugs his
ears, laughs inappropriately and/or flaps his arms. This
behavior can escalate to the point that his parents are
unable to calm him, and their only recourse is to physically
remove him from the situation. Two
or three times
a
month, he becomes extremely agitated, screaming
and
dropping to the ground or trying to run away.
On
one
occasion, he couldn’t
be found for 45 minutes. In
that
time, he had managed to get a quarter-mile
from
home,
and had crossed one intersection and was about
to
cross another.
For individuals with autism, eloping is
the
primary cause of non-health-related death.
Being paired with a service dog last year vastly
improved Caleb’s quality of life. Eddy, a golden retriever
trained by Autism Service Dogs of America (ASDA),
stops
Caleb from eloping and intervenes when he
“stims,”
or engages in repetitive actions—a common
practice
for people with autism. Eddy also increases
Caleb’s
independence and improves his communication
and
social skills.
Caleb’s family obtained Eddy after going through
ASDA’s extensive application process, which includes
evaluation of the recipient as well as the family. A nonprofit
organization
based in Lake Oswego, OR, ASDA
typically
places dogs with children at the severe end of
the
autism spectrum. For maximum therapeutic effectiveness, the dog is supposed to spend 24 hours a day
with the child, including schooltime.
Each ASDA dog undergoes training that lasts nearly two years, beginning when the animal is six to eight
weeks old. Kati Rule-Witko spent a year and a half
working with Eddy, teaching him how to interact with a
variety of people in different environments. She and the
animal logged a good deal of classroom time with children
who have autism. Next, Rule-Witko
set aside 20 to
25
hours a week for one-on-one training. Then Caleb’s
mother
traveled to Oregon for two weeks of instruction
on
ASDA methods. Finally,
Rule-Witko
visited the family
in California for three days of in-home training.
Now, Eddy is tethered to Caleb by a five-foot leash,
which loops around the boy’s waist and is connected to
the animal’s service pack. When the dog is given a
“down stay” command, he lies down and remains where
he is, thwarting any attempt by Caleb to run off. However,
the boy is free to move about independently within
that
five-foot radius without adult supervision.
Eddy is trained to sense Caleb’s moods and intervene if
the child gets anxious or starts to stim. When the boy
stims, the dog nudges or licks him to calm him and redirect
the boy’s
attention. If the child is sitting down, the
animal
will rest his head and legs in the boy’s
lap to
help
Caleb self-regulate and remain calm. In the first
few
months they were together,
Caleb learned to call
Eddy
by name, and it is still the only name Caleb says.
The child had been attending a typical Southern California
elementary school with Eddy by his side. But by the
end
of the 2009–2010 academic year,
the school was
refusing
to allow Eddy to return. Caleb’s
family asked
the
Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) to help get
Eddy
readmitted to the school. When negotiations with
the
district failed, the DRLC, along with pro bono attorneys
from Winston
& Strawn LLP,
filed a lawsuit.
The district argued in court papers that Eddy did not
qualify as a service dog under federal statutes and that
the animal might disrupt school activities and burden the
staff. Attorneys for the district also asserted that the dog
might undermine Caleb’s independence and self-control.
The court dismissed the suit and required Caleb’s family
to attempt to resolve the issue through an administrative
special-education hearing. While the hearing process
was taking place, the fall 2010 semester started, and
Caleb had to begin the school year without his assistive
animal. Since then, Caleb’s verbalization skills have
decreased. He says “Eddy” only on rare occasions, and
his connection with Eddy diminished to the point that
the animal was less effective in stopping Caleb’s from
eloping, tantrums and stimming.
After the administrative hearing concluded without a
positive result for the plaintiff—the administrative body
stated that it did not have jurisdiction over that type of
Americans with Disability Act (ADA) case and it was
dismissed—DRLC and Winston Strawn LLP filed a second
lawsuit. The attorneys argued
that Eddy met the
definition
of service dog specified in the ADA and that
allowing
Caleb to take him to school was a “reasonable
accommodation,”
since the boy’s
independence and
self-control
both declined in the dog’s
absence, which
eroded
the bond between them, and thereby diminished
the
effectiveness
of the relationship. Even before the
U.S.
Department of Justice issued new regulations
regarding
service animals, which took effect
last spring,
Eddy
fit within the definition of a service animal. Under
the
ADA, a service dog is “any dog individually trained
to
do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual
with a disability,”
as long as the tasks are directly
related
to the individual’s
disability.”
On June 13, 2011, Judge Andrew Guilford of the U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California
granted the family a preliminary injunction. The case
represented the first time a federal judge had held that
a student with autism has a right to attend school with
a service dog. In granting the motion for preliminary
injunction, Guilford concluded that Eddy qualified as a
service dog under the ADA due to the service animal’s
ability to prevent and interrupt the boy’s destructive
behavior.
Now, Eddy is accompanying Caleb to school again, to
the benefit of the boy and his classmates. The court
required the family to post a bond to address any risks
the school district might have to assume; the school
district will not appeal the ruling. His family hopes the
case will be resolved quickly for Caleb’s sake, and for
the sake of other children with autism who face similar
challenges.
by Paula Pearlman and Maronel Barajas
Pearlman is the Executive Director of the Disability Rights Legal Center,
and a visiting associate professor of law at Loyola Law School in Los
Angeles, while Barajas is a senior staff attorney at the DRLC.
Disability Rights Legal Center
Excerpts
from the John C. McGinley Issue
Dec/Jan 2011-12:
Kessler Foundation — Research
That Gets People Moving
John
C. McGinley — Expanding His Role
John Sie — And the Global Down Team
Food
Deserts — Activists Help Communities Get Good Food
Ashley
Fiolek — Befriends Noora, an Iranian Racer
Raketu — Cool Apps for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
DLRC — A Fight to Protect a Boy and His Dog
Articles
in the John C. McGinley Issue; Ashley Fiolek — Befriends Noora,
an Iranian Racer; Noora Moghaddas — Befriends Ashley, a US Racer;
Humor — To Anchorage With Love Sen. Tom Harkin — Jobs + Education
= American Dream; Raketu — Cool Apps for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing;
Adaptive Golf — The Fight Over Carts; USBLN — Annual Conference
in Kentucky; Kessler Foundation — Research That Gets People Moving;
Food Deserts — Activists Help Communities Get Good Food; John C.
McGinley — Expanding His Role; John Sie — A Career That Spans
Tech, TV and Top Research; Global Down Syndrome — Bringing Their
‘A’ Team; DLRC — A Fight to Protect a Boy and His Dog;
Betsy Valnes — On Creating a World Disability Congress; ABILITY's
Crossword Puzzle; Events and Conferences...
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