By Gillian Taylor | Staff Writer
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Baylor allows students to have service animals after receiving authorization from the Office of Access and Learning Accommodations (OALA).
Service animals, usually dogs, assist people with specific documented disabilities and are covered under the ADA. They undergo mandatory training, which is why they have access to the majority of public places. According to the ADA, service dogs are considered medical equipment.
Altus, Okla., senior Kristin Valerio said she has a seizure alert and response dog. Sonny, who has been with her since January 2021, is trained to detect differences in her biochemistry that may signal a seizure to come. This allows her to take preventive measures to stop a seizure from happening.
Valerio said she considers her condition of epilepsy to be an “invisible disability,” which can prompt people to question her reasoning for having a service dog.
“I have been approached a couple of times with the question, ‘Oh, you have a service dog. What’s wrong with you?'” Valerio said. “Which is just not OK.”
Valerio said regarding other people’s disabilities, people seem to respect boundaries more than they do with her and her dog.
“You wouldn’t touch somebody’s wheelchair without asking or take a picture of somebody in public with a walker,” Valerio said. “Or if they had an oxygen tank, you wouldn’t walk up to them and ask what’s wrong with them. So why is it OK to do that in my case?”
Anna Shaw, assistant director of OALA, said it is never appropriate to ask about the nature of an individual’s disability or to ask that the animal demonstrates its task.
“If a student’s disability is not apparent, it is important for staff and faculty to know that they may ask the student only whether the service animal is required because they have a disability and what type of task or work the animal is trained to perform,” Shaw said.
Valerio said she has had multiple uncomfortable experiences on campus because of the lack of knowledge regarding service animals. She said in the past, she has almost been kicked out of a restaurant in the Bill Daniel Student Center because of her dog. She also said she has had friends wait outside of the bathroom only to pet her companion.
“It’s really important that people don’t distract him, because if he’s distracted, he may miss an alert, and seizures are potentially deadly and really dangerous for me,” Valerio said.
Kirkland, Wash., sophomore Bella Hayton said although she doesn’t have a service animal herself, she has raised guide dogs since she was 8 years old.
Guide dogs are a different type of assistance dog specifically used for people who are blind or visually impaired. Through her extended time with the canines, Hayton said she has noticed people often have trouble differentiating them from other dogs in the way they act around them.
Hayton also said the best way she deals with people trying to engage with dogs she trains is to have an “education moment” and discuss appropriate behavior regarding service dogs. She said she tries to shed positive light on the situation and knows most people just don’t have experience when it comes to service animals.
As new research is published on the subject, Hayton said said she hopes people can learn to respect service animals’ owners’ boundaries.
