Anyone had success with bringing their emotional support dog to work as an accommodation?

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An emotional support dog is not covered by the ADA. A service dog is. However, there is a huge difference between the two. An ESA makes you feel better by their presence. They may cuddle you, nuzzle you, lick you, etc when you experience a negative emotion. A service dog is trained in tasks to mitigate a disability. They may do deep or light pressure therapy. They may provide tactile stimulation for a distraction during or to prevent panic or self-harm. They may alert to a medical issue like high/low blood pressure or sugar, on coming seizure. They may block others from getting too close or help you find an exit. There are many tasks. The big difference is training and tasks. The ADA covers service dogs (or service animals in some states. All an ESA affords you is some travel and housing benefits along with their emotional support. In short, you cannot legally bring an ESA to school. However, you may be able to get an accommodation for a task trained service dog if you qualify with a disability which inhibits you ability to function normally on daily tasks.

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I’m pretty sure that if you get permission from admin, it doesn’t matter if it’s not a service dog (as long as you don’t falsely claim it is!!) We had a therapy dog come into our school regularly to read with all students (rotating schedule) and promote social skills with our ASD self-contained students. I also got permission from admin to bring my pup into school on non- student contact days. : ) However, you may need parental permission if it’s in the classroom while students are — if it’s not a trained service dog I mean..

likefunny

Yep, I think even with the therapy dog a form letter went home that asked parents to confirm it was ok with them. If it wasn’t then those students weren’t included in the groups that got to read with the pup. Parental permission was the admins way of ensuring no complaints/issues came up. For me it wasn’t an issue, since I only brought my pup on non-student days to keep me company in my room. : )

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I have a school therapy dog who goes to school with me everyday!! To saying seen an impact is an understatement!!

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My entire prep would be spent petting this dog.

likefunny

No, but if we can figure out how to do it, my collie is going to school!

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We had an instructional aide get permission to bring hers to school. Everyone loved it!

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We had a sub bring hers all the time.

Except those of us who are allergic to dogs!

I don’t think there is really a great solution in some situations.

I brought my greyhound in during some rough patches until I could get by without him. Another teacher I know would often bring his cat for similar reasons.

If you’re going to do it, make sure you get documentation from a medical professional or licensed therapist that working without the animal poses a risk to your health or that you’re incapable of fulfilling your responsibilities without the animal. Under ADA, you don’t have to disclose the exact nature of the disability, but it does help admin make the case for reasonable accommodations if there’s pushback from anyone.

No worries. I have an SD but he doesn’t come to school with me. PSD’s and ESA’s are often confused. However, I would hope that at least the school knew the difference. This is a big liability issue for them. In no way am I saying that the dog was illegitimate or dangerous, but if the dog were to cause an issue, the school would be liable.

likesmart

I had a support dog at school for about three years (until she was too old to bring) to help me stabilize during a long stretch of PTSD that would simply not get under control. However, we have a very high need for support amongst all staff and students as one of our students passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. The dog could sense people’s bad days and sought out everyone all day sitting next to students in class, licking others. We were careful and concerned about allergies but the need for support on the entire campus ruled at that pint and the dog did her job. Things calmed down for me and the community after about three years so retiring her was good timing too. We have since created a policy and it is not so easy to have a support dog on campus.

I've only seen service dogs at my school but I think this would be lovely for both staff that needs them and students. I don't think my district would allow it unless it were a service dog though. I think allergies would be another thing to consider in big groups of kids.

Everyone this is beautiful, so many good way to help all students. This made me so happy.

Ok, I don’t want to sound like a jerk or something, I want to understand this. How does having a dog at work, that is not a service dog, help you complete your job and how could not having said dog prevent you from doing your work? Ok now, here comes the real jerky part that I may need help understanding. If you need an animal by your side at all times to keep you emotionally stable, are you really fit to be leading a classroom full of kids? What am I missing here? I genuinely want to understand this. I promise this is not an attack as I am an advocate for mental health, but I feel like I’m missing something here or misunderstanding the question.

I think it’s a valid question. Like any other necessary accommodations, not all get in the way. A well trained SD will take breaks (potty) when directed, so there aren’t typically any unplanned breaks. Most dogs can also hold it a whole school day.

If we want children to be comfortable around people in wheel chairs or who have seizures, then an SD should also be a part of that training. I do wonder, however, how you ensure smaller children don’t interfere with your SD. Older elementary students and up will be ok, but younger students may (probably will not) understand the no touch/interference rule with SD’s. An SD cannot be distracted and we all know small children can be a distraction.

One of coworker has a dog that accompanies with her everywhere in the classroom and staff meetings. We all pretend not to see the dog second time.

As the parent of a severe asthmatic triggered by dogs and cats I hope that there is a pet free zone/classroom option.

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