[nagdu] COMMUNITY COMMENTARY 'Emotional support dogs' endangersomein public

[Julie J.]

Debbie,

It's not clear to anyone.  The ADA states that a disability is something 
that impairs a major life function.  Examples given are seeing, hearing and 
walking, but it's of course not limited to those.  Any condition a person 
has is not by itself a disability.  It's how that condition affects their 
ability to do daily life function things.   For example, I have glaucoma, 
but that's not a disability.  It's how that condition affects my life as in 
I am blind.  Blindness happens to be a very easy disability to measure. 
There are eye charts and we can assign a convenient number to vision loss. 
Other disabilities are not that straightforward.  How do you measure fear, 
as in PTSD?

This is why a note from a doctor or even a prescription for a Service Dog is 
laughable.  Doctors diagnose and treat medical or psychiatric issues.  I've 
not met one yet that understands disability.   If a note or prescription was 
decided to be the way to go, an occupational therapist or vocational 
rehabilitation counselor is in a much better position to understand 
disability and make that determination.

The court system is how this country defines what is meant by a law.  The 
legislative branch wrote and passed the ADA, but it is the judicial branch 
that decides what is considered a major life function.  If it wasn't 
complicated already, this is where it gets really hairy.  A case has to go 
to court in order to form case law.  Most cases regarding disability, well 
most all cases, are settled out of court.  Therefore there is no official 
ruling and we cannot use that determination in the same way as a case that 
went to court.  Ever watch a TV lawyer show where one lawyer presents 
evidence in court that goes something like, "in Jones vs. Smith 1983, it was 
determined that Jones did not have a disability because he was only impaired 
on the weekends."  I made that up, but past cases can be used to persuade a 
judge to follow that same line of thought in the current case.  Except the 
ruling has to occur in the same jurisdiction.

I don't think there is a problem so much with people who full out fake it 
and take their pets into public, as there is a serious issue of people not 
understanding what a disability is and what a Service Dog is.  These folks 
mean well, but they are just clueless.  I like to believe they are trying to 
help themselves but they really haven't thought through all the issues, done 
the research and put in the time needed for solid training of the dog.

As an aside, I am working on a business to address this issue.  I'm only in 
the very, very beginning stages.  I hope within a year to have everything 
set up and ready to go.  My idea is to offer a correspondence course for 
those who wish to train their own service dogs.  It would be a comprehensive 
program covering everything from understanding the laws, what a disability 
is, who a dog is right for, socialization, obedience, task training, health 
care and a whole ton of other info.  It took me years and years to learn all 
this stuff.  I'd like to put it all in one convenient place for people who 
intend to do the right thing and just need some guidance.

So your original question...do folks with PTSD have a disability?  The 
answer is maybe and maybe not.

Julie
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog is now 
available! Get the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
Visit my new website on developing courage and living authentically:
http://www.falling-up.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: Debby Phillips via nagdu
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 7:25 PM
To: Ginger Kutsch ; NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users ; nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [nagdu] COMMUNITY COMMENTARY 'Emotional support dogs' 
endangersomein public

This is an interesting letter and in part, I certainly support
it.  But I have some questions.  First of all, in Spokane I have
run into people with dogs who say that they experience PTSAID.
The dogs help them with that issue.  Are they considered service
dogs? Or are they considered "emotional support" dogs? I am
pretty unclear about this.  I understand that dogs that strictly
give "comfort" are not service dogs, but I'm very unclear about
the proliferation of dogs that Veterans are using because of
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.  And is that considered a
disability? Please understand, I'm supportive of anything that is
good for Veterans, but this issue does not seem clear to me.
Peace,    Debby

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