I have a diabetic Alert dog and it has saved my life numerous times. When a child or and adult experiences hypoglycemia unawareness and the cgms does not catch fast dropping blood sugars things become dangerous quite quickly. I tried the cgms and it would catch some but missed the majority. I know my blood sugars drop so dramatically at times there is not way the cgms would catch it until i was already low for a while. For a younger child by the time the teacher notices the kid could pass if the teacher was distracted. I know there is several schools that have not allowed the dogs which i disagree with. Most of these schools that don’t allow them end up being sued instead they could save themselves a lot of money and work with the parents. I do understand some cases with really young kids how it could be distracting or possibly cause issues but the over all safety of the child is more important i would think in the end.
I am not sure if the family can sue over not allowing the student to bring the animal into a classroom, but the fedral government requires that each state provide an education for all children regardless of their situation. My cousin was educated in a live-in facility, because he had skitzofrenia, and it was determined he could not receive an education in a tradtional setting. It is the parent’s responsibility to provide evidence/documentation that the dog is “medically necessary” for the child, depending on the current laws.
There has been several lawsuits all over the country over bringing diabetic service dogs to school. Not all have won but there has been some that have won. There was a case that was just won in Florida with a little girl needing to bring her dog to school with her.
Well, my take on this is if the dog is trained and certified as an assistance dog then the dog should be allowed into the school. I know when I go to Deaf Church there is a Deaf-Blind Couple and the husband has a seeing eye dog named Abby. When she is working she is in harness and she has a sign on her harness that says “Please don’t pet me. I’m working.” I am sure that the children could be trained not to bother or pet the service dog just like we know not to pet Abby unless she is out of harness. Abby sleeps under the pew where her owner sits and is never a problem and extremely well-behaved. As long as the dog is well-behaved and clearly trained I don’t see a problem.
I do know however that sometimes people will say their dogs are service animals just so they can bring them into a store, etc. when they are really not. In that case it is wrong.
This whole story is raises a few questions. This was apparently posted over in CWD (http://forums.childrenwithdiabetes.com/showthread.php?t=31329) and the thread was “closed.” In closing the thread, the moderator/founder notes
First, I have yet to see a controlled clinical trial of a diabetes alert dog that proves in at least one case that the dog detects all hypoglycemia and doesn’t false alert. I’d really like to see this. (With that said, I know a couple people who feel that their alert dog makes a positive difference – however, that is not science.)
Second, continuous glucose sensors have substantial science to support their use and are less expensive than many of the alert dogs I have seen “advertised” online.
Third, the issue of a service dog being denied is separate from the source of the dog. If the science should support diabetes alert dogs, we want the law to allow their use.
Barbara Davis Center in Colorado is supposed to be conducting a scientific study of the dogs. Not sure if they need more funding before they conduct the study. If a dog can alert to seizures based on smell (they can), if a dog can alert to ammunition based on smell (it has been proven that they can and they are in use all over NYC since 9/11), that same dog can be trained to alert to high and low blood sugars based on smell. Cgms and alert dogs should not be compared, I feel. If a diabetic living alone suffers a low, their cgms can alert, they can sleep right through it, due to the ridiculously low volume on the alarms (Minimed and Dexcom) or intermittent alarms, i.e. alarm, wait five minutes, alarm again (Dexcom). Whereas an alert dog will actively get the person’s attention if they can; if they can’t they can be trained to push a button on the phone to call 911. The dog is a better protection in this instance. However, these dogs take a lot of ongoing training and commitment which some people may not have the time or inclination to pursue. Demonstrations of these dogs can be seen for those curious. I am confident a scientific study, if done correctly, will prove how useful these dogs are. But I fail to see why the parents have to wait until the scientific study has been done because service dogs are already recognised. The workplace must accommodate them and schools should also have to accommodate them.