NEWSDISABILITY RIGHTS

Lost in the debate about education reform is the undeniable fact that the public education system in the United States is one of the most violent in the world.

Despite overblown media reports about school shootings and daily exaggerations about youth crime, it is not the students who are perpetrating the majority of this violence. We’re talking about violence initiated by the teachers and administrators that we trust to safeguard our children’s education. Teaching is one of the most admirable professions -- which is why it’s a shame that this profession is muddied by one of America’s darker and more insidious legal practices – corporal punishment.

Of the 20 states that legally employ corporal punishment, Texas hits the most students every year -- nearly 50,000 during the 2005-2006 school year, according to the latest available statistics. In fact, administrators and teachers in Texas legally hit more students every year than the rest of Europe combined. That could change, though, if a bill to end corporal punishment at Texas schools passes this year.

Earlier this month, the Change.org community and disability rights advocates everywhere did a victory dance. Andrew Stevens, the 12-year-old with epilepsy whose seizure-alert dog Alaya had been banned from his school, was finally permitted to bring her to class.

"Never stop fighting for your child and for what's right," Angelo Stevens, Andrew's father, told us at Change.org after he found out about the victory.

The school, which had demanded additional certification and argued that teachers could do the same job as the trained service dog, caved to public outcry, including an appearance by Andrew and his family on the TODAY Show. (Hundreds of Change.org members also sent e-mails to Andrew's Northern Virginia school district in support.)

This week, Andrew's father contacted Change.org to share an update about Alaya, and some lessons he's learned about battling epilepsy.

Most of the time, teachers and principals make rules that make sense and benefit everyone: don't run in the hallway, don't hurt other students, don't disrupt classes. But once in a while, a school official makes a rule that doesn't make sense. That's going on in Johnston County, North Carolina.

Jake Dawson is 7 years old and has Asperger's syndrome, as well as ADHD. When he started experiencing intense separation anxiety when being dropped off for school - screaming, crying, even vomiting - his teacher suggested his parents walk him into class. Normally, that's not allowed at Dixon Road Elementary for security reasons, but the principal made an exception.

And it helped. Jake did much better. But now the principal has abruptly changed her mind and Jake has to walk to class alone. Jake's parents aren't standing for it.

Victory! After a grueling battle with his school district, 12-year-old Andrew Stevens can now bring his service dog Alaya to school with him, Andrew's dad told us today. This victory comes partly due to the involvement of Change.org members, who sent 371 emails to Andrew's school urging them to overturn the ban. It's time to celebrate a victory for disability rights, epilepsy awareness and a boy and his dog!

Andrew's Fairfax County, Virginia elementary school had repeatedly barred Andrew's trained service dog Alaya from school, despite the fact that Alaya can help detect and prevent Andrew's seizures. Andrew, who has epilepsy, used to have 10-20 seizures a day. Now it's gone down to 5-10 a day, his father, Angelo Stevens, told Change.org today.

But the school wouldn't budge, demanding additional certification and saying that teachers could do the job of the cuddly German Shepherd.

Victory! After a grueling battle with his school district, 12-year-old Andrew Stevens can now bring his service dog Alaya to school with him. More than 370 Change.org members sent emails to Andrew's school urging them to let Andrew, who has epilepsy, bring his trained service dog to school. Their activism paid off! Read more here.

Suddenly, everyone's talking about 12-year-old Andrew Stevens and his German Shepherd Alaya.

Andrew and Alaya are the boy-and-dog team we wrote about last week - Andrew, who has a severe form of epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, relies on service dog Alaya to stay by his side. Alaya is trained to detect seizures before they start, and then alert Andrew that one is coming on. (Sometimes Andrew has as many as 20 in a day.) She also stays by him to support him during and after the seizures. Alaya is part of the Stevens family, and didn't come easily - the family raised $20,000 and worked for two years to bring her home.

Everyone loves Alaya, except Andrew's elementary school in Fairfax County, Virginia (near Washington D.C.). Alaya's been banned from the school by Fairfax County school officials who keep coming up with more hoops for Andrew's family to jump through. They say that Alaya must be certified by an organization that they choose, although the family already spent time and money having her certified by another organization. They say having Alaya at school would be a distraction. And they say that their staff members can do everything Alaya can do.

That's ridiculous -- and illegal -- say Andrew's parents. Alaya is a certified service dog and Andrew needs her, just as a blind child would need her seeing-eye dog. Angelo and Nancy Stevens have struggled with Andrew's school - Ft. Belvoir Elementary - with no success. So they went to the media. Local outlets from FOX News to the Washington Post have now written about the parents' campaign, and when Angelo Stevens talked with Change.org today, he'd just finished up interviews with the TODAY show, currently slated to run tomorrow, January 4.

Victory! After a grueling battle with his school district, 12-year-old Andrew Stevens can now bring his service dog Alaya to school with him. This victory comes partly due to the involvement of Change.org members, who sent 371 emails to Andrew's school urging them to overturn the ban. Read more here.

A 12-year-old with a rare form of epilepsy, Andrew Stevens gets by with a little help with his best friend.

Alliya is his constant companion. She can sense when he's about to have a seizure, and when she does, she alerts a metallic device implanted in Andrew's chest. This helps him prepare for the effects of the attack -- shifting his position, changing his location and choosing what he's doing when a seizure comes on.

Alliya is no ordinary friend - she's a trained service dog, one that Andrew's family spent $20,000 on. They worked for two years to bring Alliya into their family, after a doctor prescribed a service dog as a way to allow Andrew to attend public school.

But now, Andrew's Northern Virginia school is saying there's no way Alliya can come to school with Andrew, FOX News DC is reporting. Despite the work of Andrew's family -- the time spent, the money raised, their constant advocacy for their son -- Fairfax County Public Schools says that Alliya doesn't meet the requirements to attend class with Andrew at Fort Belvoir Elementary School.

Happy Holidays! In this time of wintry cheer, it's time to raise a glass of nog and toast a recent victory celebrated by the Toronto Sun, a daily tabloid usually known more for its shocking headlines than for its public service.

When Matthew Lau of Toronto contacted the Sun to tell them that his son William, a seven-year-old with cerebral palsy, was being bullied by a much larger 10-year-old, the Sun didn't just report on it -- they intervened.

William's father was desperate for help: the Toronto District School Board had threatened him with court action because he was keeping his son home from school to protect him from the bully. The 10-year-old bully, 60 pounds heavier and 12 inches taller than William, had started out verbally teasing William but then hit him in the chest. William, who can barely walk, fell down easily.

No one knows the differences between deaf culture and hearing culture better than Jaye Brown. She experiences them every day - as an American Sign Language teacher, and as a deaf person herself. She's spent 12 and a half years teaching ASL at Redding, California's Shasta College, and has a loyal following of students that prove she's good at it.

Now, she's fighting for her job because a student complained about gestures she made. She and her students say that this is merely a cultural difference -- part of the "lost in translation" gap between deaf and hearing culture. But Shasta's administration continues to patronize and belittle the work of the students rallying around Brown, and Brown is still out of a job.

As Change.org reported earlier this month, Brown was dismissed by administrators who said someone had complained about a gesture she'd made. But in deaf culture, where gestures are used to describe people and/or body parts, something can look crude that is actually completely benign. Instead of acknowledging this, though, Shasta officials are refusing to talk about it, and hoping the issue goes away.

Take it from the expert: on the Facebook group Brown's students created to support her, she shared a letter she wrote to the administration. "Many believe American Sign Language is similar to English and 'normal' American culture," she wrote. "It is not. Students have difficulty learning to use their hands and expressions properly and have even more difficulty learning to read others' signs and expressions. There are definite cultural differences, such as the usage of gestures to identify people, more than signs... This can upset many students, so they are never told to voice these descriptions nor are they used in any tests or quizzes."

Born with full hearing, Jaye Brown became deaf as a child. She's now a well-loved American Sign Language professor at Shasta College in Redding, California, working to bridge the gulf between deaf and hearing people with a language both can understand.

But last week, Brown was shocked to learn that one of her community college students had complained about a gesture she'd made. Her contract wouldn't be renewed, college officials told her. She was finished.

It's all a misunderstanding, a distraught Brown told local media. She and a group of loyal students are standing up for her job. They're saying this isn't a personnel issue -- this is about cultural differences between deaf and hearing people.

“[Deaf people] identify people based on body parts; What's most noticeable. Describing certain body parts can be interpreted in a dirty way,” Brown told KHLSTV. As a deaf person, Brown and hearing students may be reacting to different cues, and the language barrier can mean huge misunderstandings can arise. No one knows this more than Brown, who has experienced life as both a hearing person and a deaf person.

In Collier County, Florida, an autistic, seizure-prone 6-year-old named J.C. isn’t allowed to bring his medicine to school.  Why not?  Because his prescription is Pepsi, a service dog.

Elizabeth Lasanta, J.C.’s mom, spent months trying to find help for her son. Finally, she found Pepsi, a golden retriever. Pepsi is trained to recognize when J.C. is going to have a seizure, prevent him from falling and injuring himself and call attention to the boy to ensure that he gets the help he needs. On a daily basis, the dog reduces the disruptive behaviors caused by J.C.’s autism, making it possible for the little boy to function.

Estates Elementary and the Collier County School District have been made aware of the great service that Pepsi does for J.C. and yet, they still won’t allow the dog to come to school with the boy. According to the principal, the school’s “individualized education play” is enough to “provide…an appropriate education.” Well, that’s good. And if Pepsi’s role was solely to help J.C. learn, then that would have been the end of the story. Except that Pepsi’s job is much bigger than just helping his master learn. Pepsi keeps the boy safe; something individualized education play cannot do.