Autism assistance animals allowed, as long as they’re dogs
by Beth
Revisions made to the Department of Justice’s ADA regulations last July should help assure parents that children with autism can bring their assistance animals to school with them this year … as long as that animal is a dog, that is.
Department of Justice regulations (implementing Title III of the ADA) used to define a service animal as:
any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to provide assistance for the benefit of an individual with a disability.
The revisions define a service animal as:
any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.
Notice the specific word dog in that sentence. Aside from one provision for miniature horses, other species of animals (whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained) are no longer deemed service animals. That means monkeys, parrots, rodents, and reptiles, among others, will no longer be permitted to accompany individuals with disabilities into places of public accommodation.
These regulations will take effect six months after the date they are published in the Federal Register, and as far as I can tell, the new revisions do not limit the age of the person using the service animal. So as long as autism is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and as long as the child with autism is with a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the child’s benefit,well, then it looks like the dog will be allowed to go with that child to school.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Don’t a lot of people use monkeys for assistance?
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Rats. Guess I’ll have to leave my autism snake at home.