Posted on 07/21/2011 11:43:22 AM PDT by rawhide
Have you considered taking a reading compensation course:
The articles explains why they need the dog because ONE OF THE TWINS can just leave the area, and anyone with a child, much less two, can appreciate how easily how happens;
The dog in the article, with attached picture, is a cross between a Black Lab and a Bloodhound, and the pictures shows him on a leash;
The SERVICE DOG is NOT some yippee-yippee dog that you deride;
And lastly, but probably the most important, this family has two autistic children that they love and care for at home and that fact does not even enter into your calculations and comments.
Regarding your tag line:
“Someone the other day said I’m not a nice person. How did they know?”
I would guess they met you. If you will provide the particulars I will try my best to give you more detail.
I read it. (which is why I responded to your post with the link). I raised 3 children, boys in fact, so I know exactly how fast they move (and they were very close in age which is more information than you need).
I have not derided this dog, and in fact have not really spoken about this dog. I have addressed entirely different things (I won’t make snarky comments about your reading comprehension).
You seem quite emotionally involved in this story, I cannot begin to imagine why, and I have no reason to know why you are personally attacking me. I suggest you take a deep breath and start over. My tagline is a joke aimed at something in particular which you would have no reason to know anything about.
It does appear that the service dog is not able to keep the child in question from escaping from the mother, so even if the dog is able to track the child (which I’m sure he can) the child would still be in danger from things like being run over by a car or being abducted by a stranger in the meantime. THAT would be my concern.
Now, if your aim is still to just attack my intelligence and reading comprehension, then don’t bother to respond to me again. FR is full of snarky people who simply like to fight, and I’m really tired of that stuff. Or if you just want to post that same link again, I won’t respond since I’ve said all I intend to about.
“Common sense is an uncommon virtue.”
I can’t believe all these people are getting uptight about a dropped coffee vs. a vanished child who may be in traffic trouble. Geesh. You shouldn’t have to write out all that explanation for this.
As a restaurant manager, she ought to have been informed that service animals are allowed to enter their establishment. Service animals usually have a vest or something to distinguish them from pets. Would this have happened to a seeing eye dog as well?
Thanks - I have been looking for a pic like that (Dog in Church)... We are of a similar mind...
Allen, off-duty at the time, became irate that the dog was in the restaurant... Schwenker explained to Allen the dog's purpose and told the manager the dog was legally allowed to be inside the establishment. Allen continued to berate Schwenker, following her around the restaurant and even into a bathroom. During the incident, one of Schwenker's twins disappeared. The mother threw her cup to the ground and ran outside to look for her child... Allen believed the cup was thrown at her and followed the mother into the parking lot, where she is accused of hitting her in the face... An owner of the McDonald's, who did not want to be named, declined an interview but did say Allen no longer works at the restaurant.I'm just glad no water from an air conditioner got on Allen's lesbian girlfriend.
Thx.
“Obviously no one should make a mess if they can help it, and even in an emergency situation most people will instinctively attempt to put things down without causing a mess if they can.”
OK, thanks for the further feedback. The above comments indicates that we are not that far apart afterall. Nice to meet you FRiend and I wish you the very best.
LOL to the bunny, and now you made me hungry. ;)
“Autism is such a complex disorder. It is easily misdiagnosed,” said Allen, a speech and language pathologist with Henry Ford Health System.
If someone says their child has autism, you have no basis to dispute it. The outward symptoms can be severely obvious to quite imperceptible. No self-styled expert can clinically diagnose a mental malady it on the spot! Ridiculous. Autism IS complex and the term encompasses a spectrum of disorders that have some commonality. I know, because my grown son is autistic. Anyone that denies that autism exists is ignorant of medical facts.
The dog was much better behaved than the she-boon...
I also have a child with autism, and this woman is not a basketcase. She is a typical parent of a child with autism and she has reason to be afraid. Children with autism have no perception of danger and many are unable to communicate. With the escalation of this situation, autistic children tend to run away from caregivers and may have a meltdown. This might involve self injurous (banging head, biting self, hitting self) or stimming behaviors (repetitive actions such as flapping hands, non-sense sounds, jumping up & down, spinning). I’m sure her first thoughts were he could run outside and get hit by a car or run down the road and not be able to tell anyone who he is. My son at age 11 can still only verbalize requests and he would run straight into oncoming traffic if I wasn’t there to make him pay attention. I suppose this is one of the reasons she has a service dog; she is very fortunate to have one to help monitor safety for her children.
With more and more children coping with this disability, it’s important for the public to understand the day to day challenges families face on the frontlines of autism. A simple task like going to McDonald’s is daunting for many on the spectrum, and their families worry and stress over common activities that other people take for granted. I hope this helped enlightened other readers of this post on autism and create more compassion and understanding of the disorder.
Service dogs are specifically trained for autism and they are very expensive. Only so many dogs are available each year. So this is a licensed dog as she stated. I assume that since she has more than one child with autism, her name was moved up the list. You can find one of these training centers online.
What part of autism requires a service dog, and shouldn’t that dog be keeping her kid from wandering out into the street, that is if it has ANY valid function at all?
I see more and more people abusing the system - “I am depressed and my dog cheers me up - so I need him with me everywhere.”
More and more “autism” is a bogus diagnosis also - thus the burgeoning rate coincidental to the increase in government benefits associated with said diagnosis.
Now I LOVE dogs, and I bring my dog with me everywhere also, but I tie her up OUTSIDE.
In Europe, many establishments will allow you to take your (well behaved and quiet) dog inside with you. This isn’t Europe.
I agree with all your basic premises.
It is well known that autism has been dumbed down in definition, and thus incorporates more people. I’m sure I’m autistic to an extent (perhaps Asperger’s? I’m very good with verbal/sounds), going by the loose standards now! Or future looser standards!
(My mother was a Special Ed teacher, even head of the teaching section of a special hospital for years. She is very skeptical of much of what goes on these days.)
“In Europe, many establishments will allow you to take your (well behaved and quiet) dog inside with you. This isn’t Europe.”
I think that’s because in Europe, dogs were truly useful animals, and likely better trained with higher expectations. In America, we really have no lore of culture of dogs. Besides hunting, which everyone has. Mostly, they’ve been pets in the US. Closer to a horse culture, but that’s on thin ice, too.
But the dog, if it was to be of service, should have been leashed to the children as the picture of the dog in church showed.
That way the child wouldn't have been able to run out into the street, the dog would actually be performing a real function, and the woman would have seen no ‘need’ to throw her coffee on the ground (or at the Manager as was also reported).
Oh, I’m not saying these children are not autistic; just general commentary that autism is overdiagnosed - probably because it’s been dumbed down to “spectrum”.
We keep letting these APA people dumb down all these disorders, then we’ll find we all have a mental problem - probably several.
One intelligent thing L. R. Hubbard said (out of >10,000 stupid things) was that psychiatrists had more power than the police. They could lock you up with just their own say so, keep you imprisoned indefinitely without a trial, subject you to drug treatments without your consent, etc, etc, etc.
Once we are all technically insane - I guess who is ‘allowed’ to roam free will be entirely up to the nice men in white coats.
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