The Autism News | English
BY JENNIFER A. BOWEN | News-Democrat
Corbin is more than just man’s best friend — he’s an autistic child’s link to the world.
An 11-month-old Bouvier, Corbin has already helped Carter Kalbfleisch, 5, in ways his parents never thought possible.
Chris and Melissa Kalbfleisch have thrilled at the changes in their son and are eager for Carter and Corbin to strengthen their bond so Carter will make more progress.
But Columbia Community School Unit 4 won’t allow the certified service dog into the school.
The Kalbfleisches filed a lawsuit in Monroe County Circuit Court seeking an injunction in accordance with state and federal law. Their motion cites state law 105 ILCS 5/14-6.02, which reads, “… Service animals such as guide dogs, signal dogs, or any other service animal individually trained to perform tasks for the benefit of a student with a disability shall be permitted to accompany that student at all school functions, whether in or outside the classroom.”
Superintendent Ed Settles declined to comment citing pending litigation.
Tiffany Denyer, Corbin’s trainer and owner of Wilderwood Service Dogs in Tennessee, said many schools are unaware of the public access provided to service dogs under federal and state law.
“Every single one of my clients meets resistance at first,” she said. “From that point on, about half of my clients are able to figure it out and move forward and there is no problem. The other 50 percent have meetings with school officials, and lawyer letters are sent and the dog is let in because it’s the law.”
Certified service dogs are also protected under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and are allowed access to any public environment. They can be denied access to private homes, but all public places must permit service dogs.
“Unfortunately, about 2 percent have to go through what the Kalbfleisches are going through,” Denyer said. “It really should be a non-issue. It’s federal law that service dogs be allowed to go wherever the child goes.”
A hearing scheduled for Thursday afternoon before Monroe County Circuit Judge Dennis Doyle has been postponed until next week. It is the third time the hearing has been reset, Chris Kalbfleisch said.
The Kalbfleisches spent nearly $10,000 to train Corbin and another $1,500 for a trainer from the Tennessee center to teach Carter’s teachers how to interact with Corbin and Carter. But the teachers never had the opportunity to receive the training because the district won’t allow Corbin into the school.
Carter has tantrums and anxiety attacks; he doesn’t speak, and he attempts to escape the family home. He also has Pica, a disorder that compels him to eat anything new to him, such as rocks or mulch or other nonfood items.
Since Corbin became Carter’s companion in mid-July, the family has been able to take Carter shopping and on a family vacation. They also got to hear him speak his first words: He commanded Corbin to “wait” and to “hold.”
“We were never really able to go into public before,” Chris Kalbfleisch said. “Now, we go out, and he follows this big dog. I guess he feels safe because he has his buddy with him. If he gets scared, he grabs Corbin’s handle and knows Corbin will get him to the right place.”
The pair has gone to stores, restaurants and the zoo, places Carter’s tantrums and anxiety had prevented him from visiting.
“We have not had one place that had any kind of problem with the dog,” Chris Kalbfleisch said. “As soon as they see his service-dog tag they are happy to have him there.”
Corbin is bringing out the child inside Carter that had been locked away by the autism.
“He has never tried to communicate with anybody,” Kalbfleisch said. “Now, when he goes out in public, they see his dog and everybody comes over and wants to see his dog. That means a lot to him because people are interacting with him. He is so much happier. It’s been really wonderful to see the changes in him.”
Corbin’s trainer said the dogs give autistic children something adults cannot.
“The dogs provide anxiety reduction,” Denyer said. “If you mitigate the anxiety, you free up whole portions of the brain to see life and interact with it more and not be so paralyzed. The dog is constantly there, constantly attempting to interact and begging for touch and giving constant positive reinforcement for the child to come out. The dog pays attention to their attempts to speak, even if they aren’t words we recognize, and the dog responds. It’s immediate, positive reinforcement and that’s something we as adults can’t give them, but the dog can.”
The Kalbfleisches started down the road to obtaining Corbin in November and attempted to talk to the school district about it then, Chris Kalbfleisch said.
“We didn’t think we’d have any problems,” he said. “We talked to other school districts that have allowed the dogs in the school, and they said some of the parents would be concerned about the dog being in the school and they recommended holding an assembly at the beginning of the school year to let the students and staff see the dog and learn about what he’s trained to do.”
The couple prepared for a school assembly, putting together informational packets and making plans. The family met with the school board in April to finalize plans and talk about Corbin and Carter’s upcoming school year.
“When the meeting started, we knew right away that we would have a problem,” Chris said. “We knew they didn’t like the idea. At the end of June, the superintendent finally got in contact with us and told us flat out he wouldn’t allow the dog in the school.”
Chris Kalbfleisch wondered whether a seeing-eye service dog would have been met with the same resistance.
“Carter has autism, and they probably feel like this is just some kind of experiment and they don’t want to deal with it,” Chris Kalbfleisch said. “The teachers at the school have done an excellent job with Carter and we love what they are doing. We thought this would be something they could incorporate into their program.”
School begins Wednesday, and Carter will start pre-kindergarten special education classes.
Source: http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/886605.html
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The Autism News English autistic student, Carter Kalbfleisch, Chris Kalbfleisch, Columbia school, Melissa Kalbfleisch, Monroe County Circuit Court, service dog
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