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Animal helps calm boy with autism, parents say
| Thursday, May 17 2007 9:55 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, May 17 2007 9:57 PM
A Bakersfield family has filed a civil rights complaint against the Bakersfield City School District after the district refused to allow their autistic son's service dog at his school.
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Jacob Saecker and his servcie dog, Thor.
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Jacob Saecker plays with his service dog, Thor.
Kristi Saecker said her 12-year-old son, Jacob Saecker, hasn't been to school since mid-April when district officials told Jacob his dog, Thor, was not welcome at Thorner School. He's been on independent study since then. Kristi Saecker said her son has a high-functioning form of autism, a developmental disorder that makes it difficult for him to focus, communicate and interact with others.
Thor, which the family bought from a service dog training company in March and brought home in April, is trained to work with Jacob. Jacob also received training to work with the dog. Jacob and his family say the dog has dramatically improved his ability to concentrate and stay calm.
Bakersfield City School District spokesman Steve Gabbitas said Thursday he could not give specifics of why the dog is not allowed in school for legal reasons.
"The district is concerned for the safety of all its students and we're trying to work with the parents to address our mutual needs and requirements," Gabbitas said.
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is now investigating the complaint against the district, said Jim Bradshaw with the Department of Education's press office. Bradshaw said the complaint alleges the district denied a free and appropriate public education to Jacob by not allowing him to bring the dog to school.
Bradshaw said the office generally takes up to six months to finish such investigations. They received the complaint April 18, he said.
Kristi Saecker said she does not want Jacob to go back to school without the 85-pound German shepherd. She said she and her husband noticed dramatic improvement in Jacob's behavior after he started taking Thor to school.
"It went more beautifully than we could have imagined," Kristi Saecker said. "He sat, he focused, he listened to teachers. He interacted with kids he never knew on the play yard."
She said she tried to separate the two for a short time, and it was "a disaster."
"The bond and service between the two of them is so strong that keeping them apart is mentally and physically disturbing," Saecker said.
Bob Taylor, president of the United States K9 Academy Inc., which trained Thor, said this isn't the first time he's seen a school reject a dog trained as a service animal. People are accustomed to the idea of service dogs for blind people, but the idea of services dog for people with autism is a lesser-known concept.
"It's probably the fastest growing need," Taylor said. He said trained service dogs can often help calm down autistic children or sense when they're about to have meltdowns.
The number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders has risen dramatically in recent years.
Exactly what causes the disorder is still unclear, and there's no known cure.
Experts and parents debate which "treatments" -- such as dogs, special diets and medical options -- work and which do not. Often, results vary from child to child.
Kristi Saecker said Thor has helped Jacob tremendously.
Though Jacob has an aide at school, Kristi Saecker said the dog helps Jacob in ways neither the aide nor his parents can. She said Jacob's long had trouble in school. In fact, he's attended four different schools since kindergarten, she said.
"At school, we kept each other calm," Jacob said of Thor. "He kept me focused. He kept me from getting upset."