[nagdu] guide dogs in high school

[Nicole Torcolini]

How many students are at your high school? JMHO, unless it is a very small
high school, it is not necessarily necessary to talk to the whole school. I
got Lexia between my junior and senior year of high school. My high school
had about one thousand  students, the majority of whom probably did not even
know that I existed, even after I got Lexia. I think that you might draw
unwanted attention to yourself by making an announcement about your dog;
students who never even knew about you before might deliberately try to
distract your dog. I do not think that I educated any of the administration
or teachers; some of them already knew that I wanted to get a guide dog. I
agree that the school should have some sort of punishment for students who
distract your dog. This was actually never an issue for me as most students
were more interested in getting to there next class than in the blind girl
with the guide dog.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shannon Dyer
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 6:31 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] guide dogs in high school

Hi, Danielle.

I got my first dog between my junior and senior years in high school. It was
back in 1997. GDF was really helpful. I ran off copies of the guide dog
etiquette sheet. A copy was given to each homeroom teacher, and read aloud
to every class on the first day of the school year. I also spoke at an
assembly for all students.

For the most part, my fellow students were cooperative. For those who
weren't, my school adopted a super strict policy that punished anyone who
was caught interfering with my dog with a suspension.

It was a difficult year, in a lot of respects. There was a certain balance I
had to find, even with a few of my teachers. I needed to be able to be
authoratitive when necessary without it seeming like I was being
disrespectful.

Good luck to you and your pup.

Shannon and the Acelet
On Apr 2, 2014, at 11:56 AM, Danielle Sykora <dsykora29 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I have recently been accepted to The Guide Dog Foundation and have 
> begun to discuss details of having a dog in high school. Some 
> individuals at my school were concerned about receiving training to 
> learn guide dog ettiquet from the guide dog school. I don't know if 
> this is possible, or even necessary. I always assumed it would be my 
> responsibility to educate my school. How have those with guide dogs in 
> high school handled explaining how the guide dog should be treated to 
> school administrators? Also, how did you address the issue of students 
> not complying with the basic rule to pretty much ignore your dog? Any 
> advice would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Danielle
> 
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