SD and children?

[Nalla]

I have to do volunteer work for one of my classes. There's a few options, and the ones that I can get to most easily are the animal shelter (where I work already), and the day care on campus.
My prof said she'll allow me to use the animal shelter as my hours, even though I'm already working there as a trainer. I'm considering doing the day care instead though, since either way I'll still be dog training.
I'm not sure if it's appropriate to volunteer with my SD and kids (though Nalla does love kids), I've noticed when I'm out that so many kids are afraid of dogs.
I would like to try it out though, and try working with kids. It would be fun to try, and would look good on a resume (and med school applications). I'm thinking of going to talk to the lady who runs the day care and seeing if they'll even let me volunteer with them with an SD. I'm just worried that it would be a bad idea to sort of force kids to be around a dog.

 

[bookwormde]

I am not sure of I fully understand what you are asking, but if you have your SD and want to volunteer then it is really up to the organization you are working with if they feel comfortable with that arrangement, anyone who is “enlightened” and informed about SDs should not have a problem. Being that your SD has been specially trained it would certainly provide the most predictable dog for a child who has fears to get comfortable with being around, along with the fact that the dog will be “working” should help also.

Deciding how much if any non-working time would occur in the classroom for the SD is something, which would have to be thought through I, would think. This seams to an area where there are varying opinions.

I am not sure using a dog from a shelter which you do not have a long history with around children would be a good idea.

Since SDs are becoming a more “common” and bigger part of children’s lives with SDs being used for some younger children now, any familiarity would be great.

bookwormde

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with bookwormde.

 

[Nalla]

Thanks. I'm going to talk with my disability adivisor and see if volunteering with the kids is doable.
I probably wrote it funny, but I do not intend on bringing a shelter dog into the day care. That wouldn't be good for the dog or kids since I don't usually know the dogs well enough. I intend to just bring in my SD, and as far as non working time for the dog, I'd only be doing a max of 2 hours a day at the day care, so I can't see that becoming a big issue.
After I find out from my advisor I'll update

 

[Luv Bunnies]

The only problem I can possibly see is allergies. I work in a preschool class and we had a little girl last year with severe asthma and an allergy to fur.
Any exposure to an animal with fur would trigger her asthma and it could get severe very quickly. Her parents asked several times whether there was any chance she would come into contact with an animal at school. Once a dog was running loose on the playground and we immediately grabbed her and went inside before it got too close. In past years, I brought one of my rabbits in for the kids to see but not when we had this little girl. We were even careful about coming to work with fur on our clothes (my bunnies shed a lot).

I'm sure your dog would be very calm around the kids and even help some of them overcome their fears. But if a child has an allergy it might be a no go.

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

But if a child has an allergy it might be a no go.

Unless a person's allergy is so bad that it is disabling (the child you mentioned may have reached that level if her breathing was severely limited because of the allergy), allergies are not excuses to deny access to a disabled person with their SD. In cases where the person's allergy is a disability, both disabled ppl must be accommodated.

(In office buildings, the latter can be done by having the two ppl's offices in different areas, having the two ppl not sit in the same meeting together [if they both must be there then one can call in on the phone from their office], etc. At a school, it could be done by not placing the teacher with the SD in the classroom as the child/teacher with the disabling allergy.)