|
|
Submitted by Sheila Styron As I settle down to write this, so much is going on I don't even know where to begin. In January, Debbie Grubb, GDUI's President, and I attended the second CADO conference in San Antonio, Texas where it was summer. Then in February, Dorian and I experienced weather at 20 below in Granby, Colorado at the International Ski For Light event. Maybe I'll just attempt to express myself chronologically and hope I don't leave out anything important. As most of you probably know by now, CADO is the Coalition Of Assistance Dog Organizations which is comprised of representatives from Guide Dog Users, Inc., Assistance Dogs International and the International Association Of Assistance Dog Partners. CADO's objective is to work with the Department Of Justice to revise the service animal definitions and to remove the minimal protection language which has been so troubling to us here in California. At this year's meeting, Jeanine Worden, a guide dog handler and attorney at DOJ, updated the IAADP conference and CADO participants on our progress to date. The document which resulted from this meeting will appear later in Forward, but I would like to mention a few important points for your consideration here. The term, "assistance animal" has become so much used in Housing Section language that "assistance animal" now refers to both trained and untrained animals within that context. Therefore, the term, "service animal" will continue to be used in DOJ's language relating to ADA public access issues. It is also important to note that access to housing and access to public places are separate issues legally, and complaints must be filed appropriately. Jeanine also informed us that an announcement of an "Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making" will be issued by DOJ in coming months, and at this time, the public will be asked for their comments regarding changes in service animal regulations. Rest assured that GDUC will keep you informed on this long awaited opportunity to express opinions and concerns both personally and as organizations on issues effecting our lives as guide dog handlers in the future. The CADO public service announcement produced by yours truly is playing on Clear Network radio stations and was first aired in the Chicago area. DOJ has also recently updated its guidelines for businesses interacting with service animal teams, and these will also appear later in Forward. Guide Dog Day At The Capitol is once again just around the corner, and GDUC is proud to announce that this year's California Guide Dog Instructor Of The Year is GDB's Terry Barrett. Guide Dog Day At The Capitol falls on May 1 this year, and we invite as many of you as possible to take part in educating our state legislators and celebrating our fabulous guide dogs. This year, we will be bringing the message to Sacramento explaining which teams are and are not assistance dog teams entitled to legal public access. Appropriately trained assistance dogs include guide dogs who guide blind and visually impaired people, hearing dogs who alert the deaf and hard of hearing to sounds they need to know about in the environment and service dogs that assist people who use wheelchairs, alert and protect a person having a seizure or perform other tasks for which they are individually trained. Stay tuned for more details. By the time you read this, GDUC will have participated in a hopefully very successful fundraiser, The Amish Country Traditions' 13th Annual Craft Show, where we hope to raise more money to fund GDUC's important initiatives by selling chances to win a beautiful handmade quilt which has been generously donated to GDUC. And last but not least, I want to advertise our spring convention which takes place at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel in San Mateo, CA from May 2 through 5. For those of you who wish to participate in Guide Dog Day on May 1, there will be a CCB bus traveling from Sacramento to San Mateo sometime Thursday morning, and details will be available when you call the California Connection at 1800-221-6359. GDUC's Saturday morning program will feature a discussion of issues surrounding the pros and cons of requiring identification for guide dog teams who reside in California. Allan Brenner from the California State Board Of Guide Dogs For The Blind will pose questions to GDUC's membership on this as well as other relevant issues. On a lighter and more triumphant note, if those two words used together can strike a harmonious chord, GDUC has created a new and exciting lifetime achievement award. Our first ever honoree is GDB's Thom Ainsworth, and GDUC is also proud to present Mr. Ainsworth as our luncheon speaker this spring, at which time he will also be receiving GDUC's Lifetime Achievement Award. You will be hearing more about Thom as well as the award in this issue of Forward, but let me just say here that this award is very special and will only be presented when a person of Thom Ainsworth's caliber is brought to GDUC's attention. Okay, so there is still room on this cassette for more news, I'll bring this President's message to its conclusion and wish you safe and happy travels with your guides. Oh one more thing - well maybe three more things. Please consider joining one of GDUC's committees, come have fun at Guide Dog Day At The Capitol and please join us at our CCB spring convention and GDUC business meeting, stimulating morning program and spectacular luncheon! Thank you |
|
On March first, many people with their guides gathered for a fun filled weekend at Disneyland. We were a group of people who met on an email list, called LETSTALKGUIDEDOGS! It is a list that has many members from all over the world! It is a real support system for us regarding our guides. Several people on the list, including puppy raisers, decided to get together and meet face to face! There were people from Oregon, Northern and Southern Calif. Many of us stayed at the Holiday Inn at Disneyland. They were so guidedog friendly! There was braille by each door which made things so much easier. Before I knew this, my guide, Niagra, a yellow-lab-golden-cross, stopped at the wrong door, and I proceeded to stick the card in the door. After several tries, the door opened and there was a real life person! I was so shocked and embarrassed. It was the Managers office. The staff at the hotel were so thoughtful and considerate. They had a talk regarding guidedogs and wanted our stay to be a pleasant and comfortable one. In the restaurant it was nice and very roomy for our dogs to get under the table. We asked for the menu to be read, and that was no problem. I arrived Thursday afternoon with a friend. This time gave us the opportunity to get familiar with the hotel and grounds. Most of the people arrived early Friday evening. There was a dinner scheduled on Saturday in downtown Disneyland at the Rain-forest cafe. We all were to meet there at four-thirty. Saturday morning we met at ten a.m. The puppy raisers, who could see, then helped the teams. Our first ride was the Jungle-boat! It was great fun to see how the dogs reacted to the many animals we passed along the river. The dogs were so good and calm. Then we all moved on to the Haunted House! Well, Niagra did not like that ride at all! It was dark, and strange figures were on the walls. She laid her head in my lap, as to say, Mom! Lets get out of here! It was her relieving time and after getting off the ride we hurried to find some grass. There is a moving side-walk in the house and since that could have been dangerous for the dogs, the folks running the ride stopped the side-walk. We took rest stops on benches along the way. We were all chatting like magpies! Some handlers went on the Matterhorn and Thunder-Mountain. Too wild for me! So some of us held down the fort, and baby-sat the dogs. Then we went to my favorite ride, Small World! We filled a whole boat. Niagra was enthralled. She loves children, and all the little children, singing, really interested her. She turned her head from side to side, with those velvet ears just a-flying! As the afternoon wore on, we moved on to Main Street. Some wanted to shop! We used sighted guide most of the day, because there were a million people! So each person had a sighted guide. My sighted guide, Patty, was a friend I had invited. She lives in Riverside and has some vision. She teaches home skills for the blind. We were walking along and all of a sudden, she said, "I have lost sight of our group!" I then replied, "Oh, No!" She then spotted the man in our group, from his hat! We crossed the street, and he was lost in the crowd! I ran into a shop for a gold charm for my chain, and then stood on the corner in plain view. After a while, I said, to Patty, it is getting late, and we need to do something. So we turned ourselves in to City Hall! I knew that is where they take lost children and why not two adult women and a guide dog? I had a dead cell phone, and Patty had a phone, but we did not know the other's numbers! HMMMM ! We got direction to down town Disneyland. We walked, and walked, and walked. Nothing is just straight, there are paths going off to the right and left. I had moments when I thought we were lost in the Magic Kingdom forever! SIGH! Then I heard the voices of our group, before Patty saw them. I was never so glad to see people in all my life. The puppy raisers had looked for us with no luck. They were worried to death, but figured we were adult women and we would figure out something! We then met more handlers and their doggies, who just came for the dinner. It was great putting voices with the emails. The Rain-Forest was very nice, but rather difficult and crowded and not the easiest to move around with dogs. We had a room for ourselves, and it was jammed full. The dogs were great and never made a sound. After dinner, some went back into the park. I was bone tired and so were my friends, so we dragged ourselves up to the main gate, and waited for the shuttle to the hotel. The shuttle ran every hour. My friend and I flew home Sunday, so we had to leave the hotel very early. Sunday was another day of fun in the park, and the rest of the group went for the day. It was a terrific weekend, including me getting lost! Maybe we will do it again, but during the week rather than the weekend. There were a few minor details to iron out, but all in all, I think it went pretty well. The dogs were as exhausted as me were. At the airport, my friend and her dog, and mine, laid at our feet fast asleep! Disneyland was a challenge, but we handlers and our guides stepped up to the plate! GRIN! Sharie Benson and Niagra, Folsom, California |
|
GDUC's business meeting, morning program and luncheon will take place during CCB's spring convention on May 4 at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel, 1770 S. Amphlett Blvd. in San Mateo, CA. As I write this, some of GDUC's agenda and program items are still up in the air. However, even with a few elements remaining as surprises, I will attempt to reel all of you in with what we have planned so far. First, for those of you who will be participating in Guide Dog Day At The Capitol, which I hope is a good number of you, there will be a bus going from Sacramento to San Mateo Thursday morning May 2. Be sure and check the California Connection at 800-221-6359 for details as the date draws nearer. During the CCB convention, GDUC will be selling some unique and fun jewelry, much of it doggishly fashioned, and we know you won't want to miss out on buying some. We still have some of our popular lapel pins as well as our invaluable compilation booklets of California laws pertaining to guide dogs for sale as well. Saturday morning, May 4 at 8:30 AM, don't be late for our business meeting, as you might miss out on GDUC's complementary continental breakfast and the first great door prize we will be awarding. Yes, that's right, we will be giving away a good prize early on, and you really will be served continental breakfast commencing at 8:15 to make your motors purr. Sorry about that purr word, Dogs. At our business meeting, we will be voting on some proposed GDUC constitutional amendments, discussing CADO developments, unveiling our new GDUC brochures electing delegates for national and state conventions and more. Following, Allan Brenner, GDUC member, will lead a discussion of some of the issues guide dog handlers face in California as they relate to the future role of The State Board Of Guide Dogs For The Blind of which Allan is a governor's appointee. After the break, our morning program which still needs final confirmation will feature Jeanine Worden, Deputy Director, Department of Justice Civil Rights Division of Housing and Civil Enforcement. Ms. Worden will speak to us regarding our rights as service dog handlers under Fair Housing and the ADA and give us an update on CADO. We are looking forward to this presentation with much anticipation. At our luncheon, we are proud to present our first recipient of GDUC's brand new Lifetime Achievement Award which goes to Thom Ainsworth from Guide Dogs For The Blind. Thom has contributed much to the guide dog movement in both the arenas of dog training and handler advocacy, and GDUC couldn't have come up with a more deserving first time recipient for this special honor. Thom has also graced us by accepting our invitation to be our luncheon speaker on May 4, so don't wait too long to buy your tickets, as this event is bound to be sold out. On behalf of GDUC, I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the CCB convention and all our spring activities. Come and help us have fun as well as assist in accomplishing some of GDUC's important work. For more information, call me, Sheila Styron, at 323-822-9872 email me at sharkent@aol.com, or listen to CCB's California Connection by calling 800-221-6359. Thank you, |
|
As the current Membership Committee Chairperson for GDUC as well as that of its Treasurer, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who have paid their dues for 2002. Unfortunately, GDUI sent its dues letter out before I was able to do so, and as usual, they once again preempted our letter by requesting GDUI dues without explaining that your local State may handle its own dues as well as paying so much to GDUI per member. In this method, GDUI collects $10 for membership from each person, whereas, if you pay GDUC, your GDUI membership is only $5.00 with $10 going to GDUC. Is that confusing, I say yes, and that's why GDUI sends out such a generic letter. What this all boils down to, year after year after year, is the fact that those of you who paid GDUI directly are not GDUC members at this time. We are working with the Treasurer of GDUI to remedy this situation. Those of us who have been GDUC members for years now should realize that GDUI sends out their own membership dues letter each year, but somehow, we also forget after 12 months, and it was my error not to get the GDUC 2002 dues letter out to you before the confusing letter came in your mailbox. All is well, and we will fix this problem; however, in the meantime, you are urged to let all of your friends with new guide dogs, or those contemplating getting a guide dog, or any puppyraisers you may know understand how important GDUC is in California and in the nation, and ask them to contact me to join now. For $15.00, a person will be a member of GDUC, GDUI, CCB and ACB. This will get them all the necessary information about what's current in the world of guide dogs, the blindness field, related adaptive technology, concerns regarding the California State Department of Rehabilitation, and so much more. This information will be sent to each new member in the form of GDUC's quarterly magazine, "Forward", GDUI's quarterly magazine "Pawtracks", CCB's quarterly magazine, "The Blind Californian", and ACB's monthly magazine, "The Braille Forum". Hopefully, next year's GDUC dues letter will be out before GDUI's, but if it isn't, please remember that your membership should go to GDUC in order to get the most for your buck. We are currently around 75 members strong for 2002, and are hoping, with your assistance, to reach 100 for this year. That would sure be a great goal to reach, and to demonstrate the strength of guide dog handlers in California. If you have further questions regarding membership or dues, please contact me by telephone at (310) 787-0021, or by email at kmetz@socal.rr.com. |
|
The guy was lonely, and decided life would be more fun if he had a pet. So he went to the pet store and told the owner that he wanted to buy an unusual pet. After some discussion, he finally bought a centipede, which came in a little white box to use for his house. He took the box back home, found a good location for the box, and decided he would start off by taking his new pet to the bar to have a drink. So he asked the centipede in the box, "Would you like to go to Frank's with me and have a beer?" But there was no answer from his new pet. This bothered him a bit, but he waited a few minutes and then asked him again, "How about going to the bar and having a drink with me?" But again, there was no answer from his new friend and pet. So he waited a few minutes more, thinking about the situation. He decided to ask him one more time; this time putting his face up against the centipede's house and shouting, "Hey, in there! Would you like to go to Frank's place and have a drink with me? A little voice came out of the box: "I heard you the first time! I'm putting on my shoes." |
|
Have you ever spent 2 full days with wonderful people and beautiful handmade merchandise? You know the kind, the stuff that makes you sigh with yearning to possess? I did just that March 15 and 16, 2002. It was at the Amish Country Traditions quilt and craft show held at the Orange County Fair Grounds. The people who run this show offered us a beautiful handmade quilt to raffle off to help us finance many of the projects GDUC is involved in. A year and a half ago they donated another quilt to us at the Ventura County Fair Grounds. That show was the last one to be held at that venue. When they canceled that show we were promised the quilt for the Orange County show if they ever needed a group there. At that time they had a charity who was the regular recipient of the quilt. Well, I don't know what happened, but the time came this year. I got a call asking if we were still interested. What do you suppose I told them? You're right! I told them we were indeed interested, and they chose us to receive the quilt. We would have told you much more about the fund raiser in the Winter issue of FORWARD, but at that point we weren't absolutely sure we were going to be the lucky group to get the quilt. When we were sure, I found a place who donated the raffle tickets to us for the privilege of placing their advertising on the stub. Next year we have already been promised the quilt so we will do much much more preliminary work on this project. We did very well, but if we all participate in the advance sales of raffle tickets, we can do much better. This year's quilt was made by the same woman, Anna Lapp, who made the quilt we received 18 months ago. The quilt was warm earth tones with darker pieces of blues and greens, browns and rusts. The lighter pieces were beiges and creams. There was no white on the entire quilt. Every piece of fabric had some kind of a pattern in it. There are no solid color pieces anywhere. It had a scalloped edge. The back side was shades of green and cream paisley print. It looked very rich. Abby Vincent, Ken Metz and Sheila Styron helped with advance sales of raffle tickets. Abby and Ken came down on Friday to help sell tickets at the show. Dave Foster, Mary Lou Foster (Dave's sister) and I were there both days. On Saturday the weather turned cold and windy so there weren't as many customers attending the show, so we sold fewer tickets. We held the drawing at about 4:30 PM. Saturday. About 3:45 Mary Lou went out in to the show room and let people know we were going to be doing the drawing at 4:30. Many people came right up front and bought tickets then. At about 4:15 I announced that we were doing the drawing in 15 minutes and a whole bunch of people came up and bought more tickets. My dilemma was who to have draw the winning ticket. I asked everyone there if there was a little person, maybe about 5 years old, who might like to do the drawing. As luck would have it there wasn't a single little one like that there. But, there was a 3-year-old whose Mamma allowed him to do the drawing for us. I can't think of a more disinterested party than that, can you? The little guy reached in and grabbed a huge handful of tickets and held them up like a trophy. We told him we just wanted one so he just kept shaking his hand until he held only one prize ticket. It had Mr. Roger Wasby's name, a very nice gentleman from Fullerton, California. He wasn't there so I called him when I got home to congratulate him and to work out the details on how to get the quilt to him. It was decided that we, Dave and I (and of course Brynn) would deliver it to him. We did that this morning, Sunday March 17, 2002. He was delighted and most appreciative. He told me he always makes it a point to support "Those fabulously special dogs whenever he has the chance." This was a great show. We had fun doing it and we'll all take a bigger part next year, won't we? By the way, we made $1876.00 on this project. |
|
Mark your calendars with a big pawprint on May 1 for Guide Dog Day At The Capitol sponsored by The California State Board Of Guide Dogs For The Blind. Once again, guide dog handlers will converge on our state senators and assembly representatives to inform them on issues important to guide dog handlers. This year's theme will focus on assistance dogs: what they are and what they are not. We will be honoring Terry Barrett, our California Guide Dog Instructor Of The Year 2002. Attendees will gather for a dinner at the Capitol the evening before, April 30, where we will renew old acquaintances and make new friends as well as rev up and lay the groundwork for the next day's exciting activities. Wednesday morning, we will meet at the Capitol, conduct opening ceremonies, honor California's Guide Dog Instructor Of The Year, Terry Barrett and receive our assignments. Everyone teams up and in this way we cover lots of territory with fun groups of people at Guide Dog Day at the Capitol. By the time we are finished, democrats, republicans, senators and assemblymen alike have become our friends and know much more about guide dogs than they did before our advocacy efforts. Please contact me for further details at 323-822-9872 or email sharkent@aol.com. You may also call Harry Thomas at the California State Board Of Guide Dogs For The Blind at 916-324-9328. We arranged for hotel space at a somewhat discounted rate, and CCB's Sacramento chapter is organizing transportation from Sacramento to San Mateo where CCB's spring convention will be taking place May 2 through 5. I will preview GDUC's convention program in another Forward article, and as always, don't forget to check the California Connection at 800-221-6359 for more information. |
|
If you visit the ADA homepage, the following service animal update is featured. This language does not signify current changes in the law but rather clarification of already existing regulations, even though this Brief permits some things that have been a no-no in the past. It is also apparent that certification and/or licensing is not against the law. Perhaps DOJ considers there are too many problems connected with licensing/certification to do it. Perhaps a careful study of the ADA law and the Regulations would give insight as to what is really forbidden and what is discretionary. Please note that this is the January 2002 revision, after the CADO meeting. U.S. Department of Justice Americans with Disabilities Act ADA Business BRIEF: Service Animals Service animals are animals that are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities such as guiding people who are blind, alerting people who are deaf, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Service animals are working animals, not pets. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses and organizations that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals into all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. This federal law applies to all businesses open to the public, including restaurants, hotels, taxis, grocery and department stores, hospitals and medical offices, theaters, health clubs, parks, and zoos. Caption: Businesses that serve the public must allow people with disabilities to enter with their service animal.
Caption: Service animals are individually trained to perform tasks for people with disabilities. If you have additional questions concerning the ADA and service animals, please call the Department's ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TTY) or visit the ADA Business Connection at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm. Duplication is encouraged. October 2001 Last update January 22, 2002 |
|
Actually Taken From Classified Ads In Newspapers:
|
|
Source: ananova.com Two guide dogs who led their owners to safety minutes before the collapse of the World Trade Centre are to receive an award dubbed the animal version of the Victoria Cross. Omar Rivera and Michael Hingson were led down the crowded stairs of the burning towers by their dogs Salty and Roselle on September 11. Now the dogs, both yellow Labradors, are to be presented with the Dickin Medal by Britain's top veterinary charity, the PDSA, for their bravery. The rescue dogs who searched for survivors at Ground Zero and at the Pentagon in Washington are also to be honoured with the award. Marilyn Rydstrom, director general of PDSA, said: "The tragic events of September 11 have shocked the world to its core. The enormity of the human loss was almost too much to comprehend. As a charity devoted to the care of animals in Britain, PDSA could not ignore the courageous work undertaken at that time by the many man and dog partnerships. The guide dogs overcame adversity to lead their owners to safety and the search and rescue dogs worked tirelessly at Ground Zero and the Pentagon to find life in the ruins." The Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 by the charity's founder Maria Dickin to recognise animals displaying "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" while serving with the Armed Forces and civil defence units during the Second World War and its aftermath. This is the first time the animals' Victoria Cross has been awarded for activities outside the war. The medals will be presented to the gallant dogs at a special ceremony at Ground Zero in New York on March 5. |
|
In January, I attended the second annual Coalition Of Assistance Dog Organizations, better known as CADO, conference in San Antonio with Debbie Grubb, president of Guide Dog Users, Inc. The following are our compiled notes from Jeanine Worden's presentations Friday and Saturday which we have confirmed with Jeanine as well as a tape recording we made of the meetings. There is useful information in this report, and the work of this coalition is extremely relevant to the future of guidedog handlers not only in California but throughout the country. CADO Conference Jeanine Worden quoted John Wodatch, Director of the Department of Justice Disability Rights Section as saying, "CADO's was the most professional presentation from a disability group ever witnessed by DOJ." I. ADA Title III Regulations Review. 1. Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM), of ADA Title III Regulations. These regulations are due for their ten-year review by the Department of Justice Disability Rights Section. Employees of the Department of Justice are not at liberty to discuss the "deliberative Process". As a result, Ms. Worden has distanced herself from this process in order to make herself available at present to speak to us. She explained that in all likelihood, the section concerning public access for Service animals will be presented in the package with the rest of the Title III regulations review. The ANPRM will be published in "The Federal Register" and on the DOJ ADA Home Page. The comment period lasts from 60 to 90 days. The Notice will take the form of a series of questions concerning various aspects of working with service animals. The regulations now state that the animal must be "individually trained"; but there is some speculation as to exactly what that means and this question will be addressed. It is highly likely that questions regarding the types of animals that should be used for service animals will be asked and the necessity of public access for emotional support animals will be considered. The nature of tasks performed by service animals as well as their training, how to deal with issues of service animal fraud, false allergy claims, and religious and other cultural biases toward service animals will be raised for comment in the ANPRM. Individuals, organizations and businesses are encouraged to respond to these questions as well as to present information and points which may not be covered in the actual questions themselves. The comments are analyzed and a Notice of Proposed Rule Making is then published. 2. Notice of Proposed Rule Making, (NPRM). The NPRM is also published in the "Federal Register" and on the DOJ ADA Home Page with a comment period of 60 to 90 days. It is crucial to submit comments on the NPRM, as public input is essential to this process. These comments are then analyzed and the "Final Rule" is made. This process can take up to four years. II. Working Definitions Of Assistance Animals And Service Animals Under The Fair Housing Act, the term assistance animal is used to include the entire spectrum from service animals to untrained emotional support animals. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, the term service animal refers to an animal that is individually trained to provide assistance to persons with disabilities, and is the term used in the regulations for implementing the ADA. The Civil Rights Division of Housing and Civil Rights Enforcement will be working with HUD to create civil access policy for assistance animals in the housing context. This policy may be different from the Final Rule on public access for service animals. For example, individuals may find the mere presence of an animal in the home beneficial in combatting certain effects of mental disabilities. However, these assistance animals may or may not be specifically trained to perform a task to mitigate a disability and may not be entitled to accompany their handlers in public. When HUD cases are brought to the Department of Justice, they are almost always emotional support animal cases. It is extremely important to have HUD cases involving trained service animals come before DOJ. DOJ cases must show a pattern of practice of abuse, and to date, there are not enough cases to prove the existence of unlawful patterns of practice for trained service animals. Housing complaints should be filed with Hud, and access issues should be filed with the DOJ. In both these areas, not enough cases involving service animals are filed to establish negative patterns of practice to keep enforcement and other agencies aware that access issues remain a serious problem. Therefore, people are encouraged to file legitimate access and housing complaints. III. Working with a New Administration With each new administration there is a training period. Many new appointees have very little knowledge about what service animals do, and it is important to educate them on all aspects of service animal related issues which will help them formulate the knowledge base necessary to create more appropriate and effective law. IV. Working with the White House New Freedom Initiative. Although the primary purpose of the New Freedom Initiative is to deinstitutionalize people with disabilities, other disability initiatives are coming under its umbrella. DOJ expects to be issuing technical assistance for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities and assistance animals under the Fair Housing Act, possibly within the next year. At present, however, there is no service animal initiative in the New Freedom materials. CADO might consider meeting with the policy staff in order to educate them and to include service animal issues in this important initiative. V. Certification Of Service Animals Unless certification of service animals is provided by a federal or state agency, businesses will not recognize the certification as valid or meaningful. The DOJ does not currently have the expertise or manpower to undertake this monumental effort and further, is aware of no federal or state agencies that are qualified to oversee all the aspects involved in training and standards required for this undertaking. The Department Of Justice does not consider the schools as possible providers of certification, because of the number of individual service animal trainers who would not fit into this system. VI. New Supreme Court Decision on Definition of Disability The recent Supreme Court Ruling on Toyota vs. Williams, a case involving a person with carpal tunnel syndrome, poses many new and interesting questions. It will certainly affect the work of the Department of Justice as guidance was handed down requiring individual inquiries to be made in order to determine if a condition limits one or more life activities which are classified as those such as walking, seeing and hearing. The Supreme Court made clear to the federal agencies responsible for implementing the ADA that they must make certain that whatever physical or mental impairments people claim actually do substantially affect major life activities before deciding whether a disability exists. More questions regarding the service animal's role in mitigating a disability are likely to be asked, as the severity of the claimed condition or disability as well as the amount of alleviation or mitigation a medication or accommodation provides will need to be ascertained in order to determine the existence of a disability in the future. For further information, call The Department Of Justice's information line at 1-800-514-0301. |
|
People with pollen allergies that stay in doors during cooler months may not be doing themselves much good if the house is dusty. According to a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Allergy (2001; 56: 1081-1086) pollen allergens can dwell in house dust year-round and may exist at "quite high levels" even after outdoor levels have fallen. "Therefore, settled house dust may be regarded as a long-term reservoir of grass-pollen allergens, and the removal of dust by frequent cleaning is needed to reduce the allergen levels," the study authors report. However, dusting or vacuuming can trigger symptoms in people with pollen allergies, noted Dr. B. Fahlbusch, of Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Germany. Their study looked at dust samples from 454 homes. More than 90% of the homes had grass-pollen allergens in dust on floors and within the rooms. During pollen season, the allergin levels were 80% higher in homes where carpets were vacuumed once a week or less, compared with those where the carpets were vacuumed every day. The researchers also reported that high levels of pollen allergin accumulate in settled house dust even during the periods when no grass pollen is present in the atmosphere. This means pollen-allergy sufferers may "easily have late symptoms" triggered by house dust, giving new meaning to the term "spring cleaning". Reprinted with permission from "Seasons", Winter 2002, BlueCross of California. |
|
No, we don't have any letters - yet. But here is where they will go - so send in your comments, questions, whatever. Send them to:
|
 |
||
| Home | Articles | About Our Organization |
| News and Events |  |
GDUC Officers |
| "Forward" - Our Newsletter | How to contact GDUC | |
| Donations | Links | |
| Laws Regarding Guide Dogs: California Federal | ||
| Videos - Service Animals and the Law: Responding, Welcome (English), and Welcome (Spanish) | ||
|
Design & Hosting by:
Phase One Web Site Design & Hosting |
|||||||||
|
Copyright © 2001 -
Guide Dog Users of California |
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||