An epileptic 12-year-old boy who experiences up to 20 seizures a day will be able to take his specially trained service dog to school, NBC News has learned.
Fairfax County, Va., school officials agreed late Tuesday to allow Andrew Stevens to bring his German shepherd, Alaya, to Fort Belvoir Elementary School on a 3-to-6-week trial basis, NBC News reported.
The story of Andrew and his parents, Nancy and Angelo Stevens, was presented Tuesday morning on the TODAY Show.
The segment explained how Alaya is trained to detect and respond to Andrew's seizures, a symptom of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. The dog's presence has allowed Andrew to go out and play, walk Alaya down the street, and use the bathroom unaided. The Washington Post also reported on the family's plight.
Fairfax County Public School officials earlier objected to Andrew bringing his dog to school, citing concerns about the dog's handler. Guidelines require that any service dogs be trained by the nonprofit Assistance Dogs International. Alaya was trained by the New York-based Seizure Alert Dogs for Life, a for-profit organization unaffiliated with ADI.
Jon Sabin, who runs Seizure Alert Dogs for Life, told NBC News that Alaya is “probably one of the most highly trained seizure response dogs in the world,” and said in a Washington Post interview that he believed “what the school is doing is heartless.”
In relenting to let Alaya in, school officials said one of Andrew's parents must accompany the boy and his dog, NBC News reported. A weekly conference call will assess how Andrew, his dog, and other students are responding to the new situation.
“When he’s having a seizure, he’s unconscious the whole time when he’s seizing; he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he doesn’t know when a seizure is coming,” Stevens told Lauer. “He could walk into a wall; he could fall down. And the dog won’t allow him to do that, because the dog is going to direct him and make sure he’s safe.”
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40918878/ns/today-today_health/