What to say?

Post Reply New Topic

I am teaching a class this semester, which is actually going okay. It's going to be hard to stay on top of writing the lectures, but so far, so good. The worst part about it is that it's at 8:30 in the morning.

Anyway, I am finally getting my service dog, which is great. I'll be getting him at the beginning of February.

The question is, what do I do when I take my service dog in to the class that I'm teaching? Do I just pretend that he's not there and not mention him to the students? (It's a college class, by the way.) Or do I just off-handedly mention that this is my service dog and move on? Or do I tell them more? I suppose it shouldn't be this way, but I'm worried that if I tell them what he is for, they will lose respect for me in some way. But I also feel like if I don't say anything about what he's for, then who knows what they will think.

I don't have a problem with telling my peers and my teachers, but it's a little difficult to figure out exactly how to handle this situation with students that I am teaching.

Any suggestions?

The best choice, I think, is to simply introduce the dog at the beginning when you introduce yourself. “And this is Rover, my service dog. He is here to help me with occasional difficulties I might have with my autism/Aspergers. Please don't feed him, or throw objects in his direction. I would be glad to answer questions on this topic outside class. Now, open your books to the Index and memorize the page numbers, please.”

Joking aside, I feel it's best to expect college level thinking from college students - whether that's realistic or not. Having expectations like that makes you a better teacher than some, and it tends to pull many students up to the higher standard. So, an honest introduction with a minimally sufficient amount of information should get the job done nicely, I think.



Jeff

I'm curious. Exactly what will your dog do for you?

My dog is trained in all the basic commands, but his biggest task will be to stand and stay. This will mean that he will be able to protect my personal space when I am out in public. So when I am standing in line, I can control how close I get to the person in front of me, and I can have him stand behind me so that I am not crowded. If I am trying to look at something in the grocery store, I can have him stand and stay behind me so that people don't lean over my shoulder and run into me and stuff.

He will also serve as a focal point for me when I am in an overstimulating environment. So instead of looking all over the place and feeling detached, I can look at him and not be alone.

He "hugs" on command. He will put his head in my lap and lean, so if I get overwhelmed by a situation, I can take a few minutes with him to refocus myself and then return to my activity, rather than being distracted and unable to continue.

Studies have shown that the use of dogs with autistic children (okay, not a perfect match, but nobody's studied adults with AS) increases eye contact and social interaction and decreases anxiety. So he will, in general, have a positive impact on my life.

So some of what he will do sort of fits the description of a psychiatric support dog, but he is also trained to stand and stay, so he does qualify as a service animal (there are subtle differences in access laws between psychiatric/emotional support animals and service animals, so this is important).

But mostly, he will allow me to be more independent, and to do more things. There are times when I would love to go out and do things, but it's just too much work to do it on my own. I generally don't go clothes shopping by myself because I can't handle the crowds, which means that either I or my parents have to drive an hour one way in order to get together to shop. I can't handle much time in the grocery store, so I don't eat a wide variety of foods, because it takes too long to look for them. And when I go to gatherings, I often either have to leave or really want to leave (but can't) because there is too much going on, but with my dog there to help me focus and relax, it would be a lot better.

---

The only real awkwardness with introducing the dog is that I'll be bringing him in a month into the semester. I've already introduced myself and been lecturing, giving no purposeful indication of my AS. But then one day I'm just going to show up with a service dog. I wouldn't be so worried about it if it was the beginning of the semester, because then it would just be the normal thing for them. I would walk in with the dog and off we'd go. My unease in this situation is because the dog is a change to things mid-semester.

I would simply say..."This is [insert name], he is my service dog. Please pretend that he isn't here and continue with your work as usual. I will answer any questions after class about this matter".

You don't need to tell your students what the service dog is for. There is no reason why they should, or need to know. Of course, if you want to tell them after class, thats fine as well.