Courtesy of KATU:
After she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, Anika Bjornson, a 5th grader from Tualatin, had enough to worry about.
Irritability, dangerous complications from low blood sugar, even comas were all concerns.
But now Bjornson must also switch schools in order to bring her trained service dog to class with her.
Bjornson, who suffers from Type I diabetes, takes her 9-month-old lab, Bassie, with her everywhere she goes. Bassie is professionally trained to detect changes in blood sugar using scent and “paws” the 10 year old when her sugar is too high or too low.
That’s how Bjornson knows to prick her finger and conduct a more detailed blood test.
"I would feel really hot and shaky, like I couldn't really balance myself," Bjornson said.
She and her mom, Debbie, recently asked her school permission to bring the service animal to class with her, thinking they were covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But the school, Horizon Christian Elementary, said no.
Bjornson says school administrators worried other kids might suffer from pet allergies, classmates would be too distracted by the dog, or Bassie would simply make a mess in the school building.
Now usually Anika's rights to have her dog with her to keep her safe would be protected, but sadly she attends a Christian school, and they are exempt from following those silly government rules.
Private schools run by churches may be exempt, because the ADA does not apply to “religious organizations or entities controlled by religious organizations”.
Now you might think the school would simply allow the very necessary animal into the school to ensure the safety of one of their students, after all it is the "Christian" thing to do, but you would be wrong.
But don't feel badly for Anika. Even though she has to leave her friends and change school, she will now attend public school and get a REAL education that is not based allegiance to God instead of the understanding of math and science.
Oh and in her new learning environment Anika finally gained the acceptance and support that was missing from her old school:
"The teacher requested me," she said. "He wanted me in his class because he loves animals."
(H.T to the Friendly Atheist)
Their religious status assures that they can discriminate against whom ever they want. Our son was asked NOT to come to Ananda Ashram in New York because he is blind (he also happens to be a certified yoga teacher with a degree in communication who has traveled the world, but that didn't matter to them).
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you still attend and support them?
DeleteSupport them? Hell no. We reported them to the only place u can... the human rights commission. Still no visit (he doesn't wanna even go there now) but sure raised a lot of hell for the ashram. In yogic words...fuck them.
DeleteThat last sentence made my day.
ReplyDelete"...they are exempt..."
ReplyDeleteYes, I have, in my life, a couple of families who send their children to Christian schools.
Those kids feel they are above the rules; that most rules are for others and don't apply to them.
They are the snottiest, most selfish, most disrepectful kids I think I've ever known.
Although I don't volunteer my opinions, I do answer when asked about my views on religion. (They know I've read the King James Bible, The Douay-Rheims Bible, The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, much of the Apocrypha, etc.) Thus, I (very much their elder) have been told that Jesus doesn't love me and that I will go to Hell.
Has any one else seen this in Christian-schooled kids?
(The families I'm thinking about as I write this happen to be Lutheran, but I've seen the same thing in Catholics as well.)
They also experience teen pregnancies at a much higher rate than public school kids. They are also forced by their parents to birth and raise these children as well. I know two sets of "christian" school parents in my town that forced their daughters to give birth and then kicked them out of the house. The girls are on welfare and EBT now and have had to quit school.
DeleteYeah, calling yourself a religious school and actually being one are two totally different things. Some pull it off, others don't.
ReplyDeleteGandhi had it right - "I have no problem with your Christ; I have a problem with the people who follow him."
ReplyDeleteThe new teacher said the exact right thing. She's a lucky girl to be in his class, and the other kids in her new school are lucky to have her and her pup.
ReplyDeletePublic schools are usually large enough to have two classes in each grade, so the allergic kids can be in one class and the dog in the other.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, I wish you had noted that Tualatin is in Oregon. I'd never heard of the city but I knew it had to be west of the Mississippi because the station began with a "K". (My apologies to the Pittsburg station KDKA!) It just makes the news story more interesting if the reader knew where in the country it was taking place. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteBut, how did you figure out where this town was? What mysterious online search engine type device did you employ to find more info than was published in the story? I'm guessing that if you were able to find this info then so was anyone else reading the story that wanted to know where this town was located. Disaster averted. Phew.
DeleteWell, after watching the film clip, I went to the home page of the TV station. Not a big deal, BUT, Gryphon has readers world-wide who may not have as much time as I had to seek further information. It wouldn't have been a big deal to have titled the article, "Oregon Christian School..."
DeleteThe reason to have put the state in is basically, I assumed it was in a southern state. Even though I have friends and family in Oregon, and know that the areas outside Portland are not as liberal-leaning as Portland, many people assume Oregon is one big blue heaven!
For the readers' sakes, it wouldn't have been a big deal to insert "Oregon" somewhere in the post. Get it now????
Thanks, Phoebes. I do the same thing all the time digging for a little extra info to help frame an issue. I assumed deep South incorrectly, so "you done good"
DeleteHere's a not-so-interesting tidbit on call letters:
KLSU is the student-run radio station at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, even though it is east of the MS River. I wasn't really a big listener when I was at LSU, but I had friends that were DJ's and other technical jobs there b/c they were Communications Majors... you know, like the ex-half-term Gov of AK, Sarah Falin.
Hey, I told you it wasn't very interesting, and I delivered on that promise, huh?
If Anika feels shaky and sweaty she doesn't need a dog to tell her she has low blood sugar. If she's been educated about type 1 D she knows what signs to look for and what to take (OJ, glucose tablet) when she senses her symptoms. But she has to be awake for that, so when her dog is most valuable is overnight when she's sleeping. I love dogs and hate fundamentalists and their schools. But I really see no need for Anika's dog at school, Christian or public.
ReplyDeleteWell fortunately the law disagrees with you, as does Anika's new teacher.
DeletePretty sure Jesus would disagree with you as well.
Just saying.
That is really for her doctor to decide. By the time she has symptoms-it is too late. The dog senses it before she does and gets her to test as needed.
DeleteAs a diabetic, I am offended that you think just drinking juice or a tablet is the answer. IT is to treat before you are in crisis that is the key.
The dog senses the change BEFORE she has symptoms, thus allowing her to attend school and be independent.
DeleteYou are the reason laws have had to be enacted to allow service dogs into public places without discrimination. What a horrible person you are.
DeleteThirty-five years ago I was spending my days doing software development at a commercial datacentre. A fellow user from another company was diabetic. He was an adult, not a ten-year-old. Yet from time to time we'd find him slumped over a keyboard unconscious, or barely so and irritable. Unlike Ms. Bjornson, he was with a group of caring grown-ups and people such as myself who were prepared to drive him—over his objections—to the ER a few blocks away.
DeleteYet somebody who can't even put a name on their post is prepared to state that this young girl's problem is insufficient education and/or insufficient attention to symptoms.
Hey, I'm the one who posted it, and I'm absolutely sorry to have offended anybody! Wow, what a reaction, I seriously cannot believe how indignant people were. I should have read the whole article about her because I truly believed from families I've interviewed for diabetes articles that the parents get the dogs for sensing overnight risk, and the school nurses and the kids themselves had daytime risk so well in hand that the kids were free and active. This girl apaprently had a more fragile case and needing round the clock sensing and I did not read that. So I'm SORRY. I'm not a terrible person! Mel
DeleteMel, I never thought you were a terrible person, just an uninformed one. The child sounds like she might be what is called a "brittle diabetic". This is when the blood sugar is not well-controlled at this particular time and she can have life threatening low blood sugar quickly. Management of juvenile diabetes can be very tricky. As a school employee, I would be delighted to have a dog there to give us warning.
DeleteElizabeth 44
I like to think I'm a fair individual. I see that both sides in this conflict could work something out together.
ReplyDeleteOn one side, there are other students, all with or without their own personal health problems. Some may have a variety of childhood diseases, but no doubt the majority don't. Some may have chronic diseases, like allergies, asthma. Any parents here who have gone through the torture of watching their child trying to grasp for air? Or see them react violently to an allergen, or just see them react moderately to an allergen? In most cases, a child reacting moderately to an allergen causes very real discomfort, brain fogginess, headaches, earaches, breathing difficulty, dizziness, extreme fatigue. These reactions can be set on quickly by being exposed to any number of things, including dogs and cats.
On the other side of this dilemna that the school has, in regards to Anika, this girl could really use a service dog in school. I hope something can be resolved.
Gryphen, you are jumping too way ahead of yourself. You want to prosecute the "christian" school right away. You want to make them out the bad guy because they refuse to bend rules, as we've seen how some christians these past 4 years behave.......totally unreasonably. But the rest of us can't behave unreasonably just because a handful of jerks do. We see here that bringing this dog to school will help one kid, but may cause suffering to other kids who suffer from allergies. Is it fair to disregard all the others in favor of one? This isn't about equal rights, it's about kids being able to all enjoy learning in an atmosphere of well-being. Even schools ask students not to wear scents anymore. The world is changing. The over-use of chemicals and strong scents has taken a toll on more people these days.
Anika still, though, schouldn't have to be without her dog. I hope this case will be resolved. But we don't throw one sick person in the mix of other sick children and expect everyone to get along. No one is right or justified when it comes to children's health. All of them.
He didn't prosecute anyone, he just that christian schools didn't have to follow the laws as far as discriminating from the equality laws for the disabled. BTW dogs don't wear perfume and have less dander than a person because they follow a strict hygiene routine to follow if they are service dogs( unlike sarah palin)
DeleteIt is medically documented that exposer to different animal danders when kids are young that it lessens or prevents allergies.
And you don't come off as a "fair person" you come off a a nut.
Little Rabbit
Somehow, the public school will manage (as they do with kids who have seeing eye or other service dogs).
DeleteNotice the reasons is that other kids MIGHT have allergies. Other reasons include distraction (which would end after the first week) and the mess (which is doubtful because most service animals are extremely well trained in all areas). They have more of a mess to fear from the kindergartners than this helper dog. This isn't the same as peanut butter. They can make sure any kids with allergies aren't in the same class as her.
I see your point, but it really comes down to the fact that this is a private school and it is allowed to chose whom to discriminate against. I think they're worried about other parents making a big stink.
Not only is Bassie a service dog, she also got her little girl out of a christian school into a public one! Bassie rocks!
ReplyDeletethis is one of those "big bad govmint" rules so the disabled are treated equally.
And we don't have the name of her new teacher, but he rocks too!
Little Rabbit
Ha! I was thinking the same thing.
DeleteSo typical of religious extremists with screwed up priorities. Most if not all service dogs are friendly, clean and well behaved. Shame on the administrators or whoever made this un-Christian decision.
ReplyDeleteThe children in this place would be more endangered by a human with poor hygiene. Sarah Palin of the greasy hair and stained clothes comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteIt's not only Christian private schools that discriminate against the disabled. I am disabled myself since long before ADA was even considered. For that reason I pay attention to who can get where. I read private school and charter school ads when I see them. Those ads post lists of persons and conditions they will accept to show how open minded they are.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen one of those ads that lists disability as a condition they accept. ANY disability. Those ads usually list things like race and gender but never disability. I think the reason for that is so they can brag about how they get better academic results than public schools. Those private and charter schools want to push the most difficult to educate children on the public schools. If you include disability in your accepted traits, you would necessarily have to take special needs and intellectually limited children, thereby lowering your advertised success rates. Excluding disabled children also relieves the school of making any accommodations for things like wheelchairs. Besides that it allows private schools to complain about failing public schools in order to improve their market share. I live in the same general area in Oregon as this story so can't say if this it true everywhere but it sure is here.
You have eloquently reported why I am so absolutely against charter schools or vouchers.
DeleteElizabeth44
Some of the comments at that link are horrible. I just donated for a little girl to have a service dog for the very same thing. Read the comments. The little girl should take responsibility. WTF? She is! By taking her insulin and having the service dog who can detect changes way before any human can.
ReplyDeleteI have no love for a school who can get away with discrimination in God's name. Bullshit. If any other child has that severe an allergy I certainly understand. That being said funny how the public school can deal with that situation but the Christan school can't.
The school who wishes to down her dog because of the potential let someone else had an allergy? That is just silly. If there were an actual case of a child that could not be in any other class who also had allergies so severe that the child could not be around a dog, then there is something to discuss. Otherwise the school just missed out on a wonderful teaching moment. To think what the students could have learned, about the miracle that a dog could help keep a child well. I wonder if they would ban kids with canes and crutches because it might trip a pushy well child? Or perhaps no wheelchairs because, you know, they canthe inconvenient to get through doors and around obstacles. Then, of course, you wouldn't want any child who was smarter than the other kids. That would make the normal kids feel bad about themselves. While we are at it, let's make sure we don't have any learning challenged kids either. Or anyone to doesn't look like us. Or sound like us. Or thinks like us. How sad for those kids to have missed out on such a great learning experience. 3 cheers for the public school!
ReplyDeleteHa, as greedy as most christians are I can't believe they let a tuition paying student get away.
ReplyDeletefuck them. I'm sick and tired of religious orgs. getting to act like assholes just because they can.
ReplyDeleteThis will be a fabulous learning experience for her new classmates too. She can talk about type 1 diabetes. She can also give a report on service dogs, how her dog helps her and how her classmates should act around the dog.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a teacher, I'd request she be in my class too.
It is also a prime example why public schools are better than private schools. Private schools are exempt from all sorts of laws. They violate the rights of U.S. citizens. And you can't convince me they provide a better education when this sort of prejudice is standard operating procedure.
As an Atheist, I have no love of religious schools. However, I also have a child who has life-threatening allergies to food and bees, and also many other allergies such as pollen, and pets, which make him miserable.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot own any (not even one that he is not currently allergic to) fur-bearing pets because he would eventually become allergic to the animal, and be at a very real danger of developing asthma. Children who have both anaphylaxis and asthma have the highest risk of dying from a reaction.
Gryphon, I am surprised that as a former school district employee, that you are not aware that allergies and asthma are at epidemic proportions, and that yes, people can die from severe pet allergies and asthma attacks.
If you had a severely allergic child in your classroom already, and then another child developed a problem that required a service dog, what would you do? The only logical solution would be to place one of the children in an environment where there is no dog, or no dog allergy.
This school did the right thing, and is being attacked for it. Kind of gives us Atheists a bad name, in my opinion.
Actually you have received horrible medical information. Most allergists recommend some exposure to animals for everyone, no matter what they are allergic to. I'd change Drs, try the Mayo clinic.
DeleteThe school kicked her out. Is that ok with you?
DeleteA public school cannot do that. A public school would very reasonably figure out a way for those two children to have their education (by placing them in different classes, etc..).
Does this girl have to be isolated from any school environment when and if there is a severely allergic classmate? Should she have to be home schooled? Perhaps it's the severely allergic classmate who should be removed (I don't actually believe that, but it's the flip side of the same coin).
No, I have not received horrible medical information. You are not up-to-date on the care of children with severe allergies.
DeleteMy son is seen by one of the countries leading experts on anaphylaxis.
It is very common for people who are not familiar with life-threatening allergies to assume that you can "get used to it, if you just expose yourself". I believe that that is possible with some allergies( hay fever comes to mind), however, tests on children with anaphylaxis, by experts (in a hospital setting), have actually resulted in the death of the child. bt
I have seen no evidence that the girl was "kicked out" of the school. She appears to have been told that she could not bring her service dog to school with her, due to allergies suffered by other children.
DeleteThe evidence is that she needs the dog, she can't have the dog at school, therefore, she cannot go to that school.
DeleteAnd, there is no evidence that there are any children in the school who suffer allergies. The school's statement is that there "might" be.
Well, I just finished reading all of the comments. I am officially done with reading your reader comments Gryphon. As the mother of a severely allergic child, I am offended that you even published some of these nasty comments.
ReplyDeleteThe people are obviously completely ignorant of the severity of life-threatening allergies and asthma or they are just nasty scum who will pit one child's medical needs over another, just in the name of religion bashing.
And Gryphon, you set this up by posting this article. How do you think my anaphylactic child who absolutely loves animals but can never own one would feel if he read these comments? How about my children's friends who have asthma?
I hope you re-evaluate the wisdom of this article, and take it down. You are not doing my kid or any other kid with severe allergies and/or asthma any favors. I have worked so hard at my school these last 7 years to gently educate people about the seriousness of these medical problems, and then someone thoughtlessly puts something like this up. Thanks a lot.
Maybe if you spelled Gryphen's name correctly we could take your rant seriously. Otherwise you just sound deranged. But then you won't read this comment because you are done reading nasty comments :)
DeleteIf all you can get out of my comment is that I spelled Gryphen's (Gryphon's, Griffin's), name wrong, then you really don't have much compassion for children in you do you?
DeleteWell, excuse me for the unpardonable sin of misspelling the strange pseudonym spelling of JESSE GRIFFIN's blog.
I am sure that since I live in Anchorage, am a member of the Democratic Party, am a card carrying Atheist, and know him by his real name, that this minor error totally justifies the bashing of the millions of innocent children who take their lives in their hands as they go to public school everyday, surrounded by peanut butter sandwiches which could literally kill them.
Yes, those wonderful public schools that are so welcoming to a guide dog, have not decided that since peanuts and tree nuts are THE MOST DEADLY OF ALL ALLERGIES, that perhaps children who could die upon exposure to them should not be surrounded every day by a greasy, sticky substance which is eaten by holding it with bare hands, which literally ensures that the entire school is eventually coated in it.
You see, apparently, parents of Public School children have complained that their own children have every right in the world to eat whatever they want for lunch, no matter how deadly it may be to their fellow students.
But those darned Christian Schools sure have a lot of nerve to say that kids with asthma might be adversely affected by a service dog. Those asthmatic kids should just shut up, mind their own business, and concentrate on their tortured breathing.
The child in this story is safe, and receiving an education in an environment where her disability is able to be accommodated. As are the children with dog allergies at the other school. That is the important thing here.
Did I spell anything wrong this time?
You still sound deranged. Why are you reading the comments? Bye.
DeleteAnd maybe YOU are just a self centered fucking idiot who has never had a disabled child that relies on a service dog. BTW NO ONE, NOT EVER has dropped dead of being allergic to a dog, most doctors recommend exposure.
DeleteAnd when there is a severely allergic child in her new school, should she be removed from there as well?
DeleteAs for peanut allergies, if a child could die from walking into what you literally seem to believe is a peanut-coated building, maybe that child should be home schooled.
"Most doctors recommend exposure". Your ignorance is phenomenal. You keep spreading advice about a subject that you know nothing about.
DeleteYes, it's true that they have found that babies born into a home with animals have less allergies to them. However, it still happens, as evidenced by my own child's life. And once you have a severe allergy to a pet, if you expose yourself often, you set yourself up for becoming asthmatic, which I would not wish on anyone, so no, a doctor, or at least a good doctor, would not recommend exposure.
Allergies are becoming more common and more severe. Today, one in 13 children under the age of 18 (about 8%) have food allergies, and about 40% of them are severe (life-threatening).
Now, let's suppose that you are correct, and that there is no possibility that anyone in the world could have anaphylaxis or asthma reactions to a dog that could kill them (by the way, that would be a completely wrong assumption).
So, my kid is in his classroom, eating his boring usual foods, watching his friends eat birthday cupcakes, cookies, etc., and unable to participate because you simply can't trust that someone doesn't set their baked goods on the same surface that they just made sushi, a peanut butter sandwich, etc. He is safe, and content, because he has been trained since the age of three to constantly wash his hands, and not to touch his face.
Then a new student shows up, and she's got a service animal that he is allergic to (not anaphylaxis, just the usual itchiness, runny nose, and watery eyes). After eight hours a day of sheer misery, not only does my son not learn a damned thing, but after nine months of this, he develops asthma, which then puts him in a very risky category: a child with anaphylaxis AND asthma. Spring comes, he's run down (he has been pale with purple bags under his eyes all winter), he goes outside and gets stung by a bee. And because he also now has asthma, he may actually die from this incident.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Does it make sense now that if 8% of the population of this Christian School had allergies, and that almost half of them had serious allergies, and that they had been told to avoid owning pets, that perhaps it would not be a good thing for these kids to spend day in and day out in a small space with a service dog?
You say that I am a self-centered idiot, yet I am the one who wants to find a solution to the needs of both children. Your solution is to force millions of allergic and asthmatic children to be home-schooled so that kids who need service dogs can go to whatever school/classroom that they like.
And no, you cannot sufficiently bathe a dog to make it non-allergenic. And it isn't just the dander, it's also the saliva, and the urine. bt
Gryphen, what I object to about this article is that you have taken no consideration whatsoever to the much more common problem of allergies, and have used the fact that the school was simply trying to protect a larger number of students with fragile health, to bash them. The school most likely spent a lot of time on this issue, and could not figure out how to keep all of the kids safe. They most likely did not kick this girl out of the school, they just notified her that they could not have a dog at the school.
DeleteDespite the fact that I lost interest in the Palin saga a long time ago (and I have a cabin close enough to Bristol's house that she can be heard swearing like a sailor, from indoors), I have kept checking your website everyday. I thoroughly enjoy the odd political stories that you post, and I absolutely love most of the anti-religion, pro-atheist stuff. I rarely have time to read the comments. My own life experience gives me an intense interest in anything to do with the treatment of children with allergies, especially in schools, which led me to read the comments here.
I have to say, if this is an example of the types of comments that people make about Christians, Republicans, and Palins, then I think that you are actually hurting your favorite causes. Normal people who read these will get the impression that Democrats and Atheists are nasty beings indeed.
If I can't find a blog that offers the same subject matter that yours does, then I'll probably be back (but I'll avoid the comments). However, I think that it may finally be time to shop around. bt
If the school had a large portion of allergic kids who would be seriously and negatively affected, they would have said so publicly. Instead they said a kid MIGHT be allergic and there was also the problem of distraction and a mess.
DeleteWhy are you assuming they spent any time at all thinking about this issue? Because it suits your narrative.
If she needs the dog and they tell her she can't have the dog at school, they are in effect kicking her out.
Finally, there a really good way to isolate kids with severe animal allergies from the one kid who needs a service dog: different classes. Do you really think a public school is going to put these kids together? Would the allergic child have symptoms from walking down hallway where there was a dog or using the same paintbrushes and scissors as a girl who has a dog? You'd better hope not because plenty of kids go to school with cat and/or dog hair on their clothing.
What is your solution? That this girl be isolated from other children? She should be home schooled or placed in a special school where only non-allergic children (or only children with service dogs) are allowed?
You're worried about your child. That's understandable. The mother of this girl is worried about her child, too. Making one or the other kid stay out of school is not the answer.
so now the kid gets to attend a regular public school, away from "Christians" and gets a life lesson that will last a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteKarma... patient..relentless....inevitable. Namaste.
I'm amazed that a post about a child who was turned away for the intolerable sin of being born with a deadly disease seemed to touch a raw nerve in some people. That could have been my child, does it matter what "affliction" the child suffers?
ReplyDeleteA true Christian gave me (a non believer), a gift years ago, this quote in a pewter frame, it's one of my most cherished possessions, it's always given me perspective.
http://www.debwebonline.com/Mercy_in_Jesus/tosave.html
I'm glad this girl found acceptance, tolerance and compassion at her new school.