[nagdu] Request for Reasonable Accommodation

[Tami Kinney]

Rebecca,

Well, DD and I are working together on this, since I know more about 
that sort of thing even though it is his dog. Also, I'm more computer 
literate. /lol/ And I know the jargon, etc., etc. So I can just do it 
and print it.

You asked good questions in your earlier post. I haven't had time to 
answer and am currently too tired to do so sensibly. Actually, I'm 
interested in what others have to say on the questions you posed, too.

Honestly, while the word "prescription" is what is used in the law, 
etc., I find it an unfortunate choice. It may not be truly semantically 
incorrect, but it does imply things from general usage that add to the 
confusion on the matter of dogs needed on medical or psychological 
grounds. Basically, the doctor is stating the medical need in a letter 
of some sort. So I believe the point of  having the doctor say something 
in writing about the patient's need is to provide some sort of frame of 
reference to distinguish a legitimate need for reasonable accommodation 
in a pets policy over someone who just wants a pet and thinks they can 
have it no matter what the rental policy is... I don't know if that 
explains it very well, but that is my impression of the reason for a 
statement from the doctor. Which is called a prescription.

So naturally, there are doctors who will just write out a prescription 
telling the patient this means they can take their companion animal 
everywhere with them, they just have to show the ltter... So that's a 
whole 'nother can of worms! Because that letter -- whatever you want to 
call it -- has nothing to do with places of public accommodation! Now, 
if the dog is trained to alert to a medical condition or to perform some 
behavior to assist in a disabling psychiatric condition -- say, severe 
PTSD -- then that's different, because the dog is trained to do work for 
the person with the condition. Only I think it has to be a disability... 
So there must be some sort of standards somewhere for how that is 
defined. Kinda like "legal blindness." /smile/ So for me, with 
progressive vision loss, one morning in January of 199, I was not 
disabled. By that afternoon, I was. Nothing had changed, except that my 
ophthalmologist had taken some measurements and written some numbers 
that had changed since the last time, so... That morning, if I'd had a 
guide specifically trained to guide the blind, I suppose I would not 
have been legal taking it into the grocery store, even if it was guiding 
me, because I was not determined to have a disability. That afternoon, I 
could have. It's all in the numbers. /smile/

Sorry I'm too brainless to do better. Maybe tomorrow? /lol/

Tami

On 12/07/2011 09:49 AM, Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC) wrote:
> Tami,
> A couple questions.
> First, why isn't DD doing this?He's an adult right? You can help gather info and provide emotional support but why is this letter yours to write?
> Second, I'd have DD update that prescription. A couple years back wouldn't hack it if we were discussing drugs or a medical device. Nobody has yet responded to my other post, and I do admit to being incredibly curious. Anybody care to answer?
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tami Kinney
> Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 3:23 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: [nagdu] Request for Reasonable Accommodation
>
> Hi, gang!
>
> I thought I would ask this publicly to get more opinions and because
> it's something we all have or will run up against sooner or later.
> Unless we're lucky...
>
> So i need to write a letter for reasonable accommodation under the FHA
> for housing. In this case, it is for DD's companion dog, but the same
> rules apply there as for a guide dog.
>
> So my question is this:
>
> Is there a specific formula to use in a letter requesting reasonable
> accommodation?
>
> My thought is that we will simply copy the doctor's letter from acouple
> of years ago to a letter requesting reasonable accommodation in using
> the wording of the FHA for that which I should know by heart but always
> blank a bit on. /smile/
>
> So I need to look that up and ask specifically for the relaxation of the
> pets policy for the new companion dog.
>
> Is there anything there I haven't thought of or some better way to do it?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tami
>
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