KURE FEST IS BACK
IOWA STATE DAILY
MENTAL HEALTH EXPO
Learn more about the music festival and how you can check out this years acts inside.
More information on who attended the resource fair as well as author Sara Benincasa’s keynote speech online. ONLINE
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ANIMALS ON DUTY An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
WEDNESDAY 09.20.2017 No. 022 Vol 213
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Understanding their service
What is a service animal? A service animal is an animal, most commonly a dog, that has been individually trained to perform tasks and do work catered to an individual’s disability. Service animals are not required to be professionally trained. Service animals do not need to be “certified” or “registered” as service animals. Organizations or people who sell certification or registration for service animals are not recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or U.S. Department of Justice. Service animals are not pets under the law. Types of Service Animals Guide dogs help the blind navigate areas without the use of a white cane. Guide dogs can alert their owner of changes in terrain and elevation as well.
EMILY BLOBAUM/ IOWA STATE DAILY Sheba serves as a guide dog for her handler, Lauren Berglund, junior in child, adult and family services. Sheba and Berglund have been a team since June 2015. “She made me more confident, more independent and more willing to do things,” Berglund said in an interview last year.
BY MARY.PAUTSCH @iowastatedaily.com It is not uncommon to find some furry friends walking alongside their owners on campus, but some are doing important, life-saving work.
These special animals are service animals, whose jobs are to aid people with mental and physical disabilities. Service animals are not pets. They are specifically trained animals, usually dogs, that perform tasks specialized toward an individual person and their disability. Lauren Berglund, junior in child, adult and family services and vice president of the Alliance for Disability Awareness, uses her service dog, Sheba, as a guide dog. Berglund has a condition called oculocutaneous albinism, which leaves her with a lack of pigment in her hair, skin and eyes. She is also legally blind. That’s where Sheba comes into play. “I have had [Sheba] since June of 2015,” Berglund said. “So just over two years.” Before getting Sheba, Berglund used a white cane to navigate her surroundings. A cane can help a blind person find obstacles so they can maneuver around them. A guide dog, however, can find the obstacle before the person does without the need to hit objects.
“She can find a different location and landmarks, like doors, stairs, elevators, buildings, classrooms,” Berglund said. “And then she also navigates me around stationary and moving objects.” Sheba and other guide dogs can also alert their owner to changes in elevation and curves via a harness that lets a person feel the movement of the dog. For Berglund, this means having more confidence and independence while navigating a busy environment, such as Iowa State’s campus. “For myself, I think [Sheba’s] ability to maneuver through crowds and busy places is just great in any situation,” Berglund said. Berglund and Sheba are not the only example of what a service dog can help accomplish. Service animals can have a variety of titles, such as a hearing dogs, medical alert dogs, autism support animals and psychiatric service dogs. “There are dogs who do anxiety and PTSD,” Berglund said. “So they are a type of psychiatric service dog who will do deep pressure therapy by using their body weight, they can alert their handler to different things, they can watch their handler’s back in crowds... There’s just tons of types.” According to the Americans with
Disabilities Act, in order for an animal to be considered a service dog, it must be trained to specifically help a person with disabilities. That is to say, an emotional therapy animal who provides comfort in its own presence but does not use a certain skill, is not a service animal. The ADA also protects handlers to have their service animals in public spaces, including college campuses and classrooms. Denying entry to or service from a business on the grounds that the individual has a service animal is illegal. “In the university there are some places where service dogs are not allowed, like labs, [places that] need to be sterile, or put the dog in danger, or fundamentally alter the environment,” Berglund said. “Then that’s a place where a dog wouldn’t have the right to go.” There is also no such thing as service animal “certification.” The ADA and U.S. Department of Justice do not recognize people or organizations that offer this “service.” “Anything you see on the internet or in an ad is basically a scam,” Berglund said. “The laws don’t require anything.” Although Sheba has benefited Berglund’s life at college, she does admit there can be some drawbacks. She said that some people are unaware of how to
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Hearing dogs alert those who are deaf or hard of hearing to important sounds. This may include doorbells, alarm clocks, smoke alarms, phones and more. Mobility dogs perform a variety of tasks for a variety of disabilities. Individuals in wheelchairs can have a mobility dog help them up ramps. Mobility dogs can also retrieve hard to reach items and open and close doors, drawers, cupboards and other household amenities. Seizure alert animals are trained to sense seizures before they happen and assist their owner appropriately. Psychiatric service animals are trained to help their owners for different psychiatric conditions. For example, an animal can be trained to sense an anxiety attack and calm down their owner consequently. Autism support animals can be trained on a case by case basis to assist those on the autism spectrum. What NOT to do with a service animal Do NOT distract the animal in any way. Do NOT pet the animal without permission from the owner, especially if it is wearing a vest or harness that indicates the animal is working. Do NOT bring over your own dog to the service animal. Do NOT take pictures of the animal, especially with flash or while trying to get the animal to look at the camera. Do NOT make “kissy” noises, sounds or talk to the animal to try to get its attention. Information courtesy of ADA.