USA : Tuesday, 4 January 2011 (Local Time)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nancy Stevens- Andrew’s mothertold that, “A service dog is trained very well. If Andrew sits, the dog is going to sit. If Andrew gets up, the dog is going to get up. A service dog will not bite anybody at all.”
But Fairfax County Public Schools assistant superintendent Kim Dockery told that the school is doing its best to work with the Stevenses.
Andrew’s service dog, Alaya, carries a magnet in her collar that can be swept over a nerve stimulator surgically implanted in Andrew’s chest to lessen the severity of his seizures.
The family first detected Andrew’s seizures four years ago, and doctors diagnosed him with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The rare and severe form of epilepsy is marked by seizures that come frequently and at a moment’s notice, and modern medicine can do little to help.
“His seizures are on both sides of his brain, so there’s no operation that can fix him; no medication works with somebody who has Lennox-Gastaut,” doctor told that. “The best you can do ... is get a service dog to help try to lesson the seizures.”
The Stevenses did just that in November, stretching their family budget and getting donations to foot the $18,000 cost. Alaya carries a magnet on her collar, and when Andrew is on the verge of a seizure, the dog licks his face and swipes her collar over a nerve stimulator in Andrew’s chest. This eases the severity of the seizure, and sometimes even forestalls it completely.
Story and Foto from : www.today.msnbc.com
