Virginia Elementary School Says "No Way" To 12-Year-Old's Service Dog

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.

Andrew's mother, Nancy Stevens, isn't giving up. She says she's been flooded with paperwork from the school district and told that Alliya doesn't meet the school's guidelines for service dogs. She says she's been told, among other things, that school district staff can do what Alliya can do. But service dogs for epilepsy -- also called "seizure dogs" or "seizure-alert" dogs -- work in their own way. Although there are few scientific studies about seizure dogs, owners report an uncanny ability of the dog to sense when their owner is having a seizure and to care for them during and afterwards. Some dogs have been documented to be trained to detect symptoms of seizures.

We can help. Andrew's family has spent years, and thousands of dollars, on keeping Andrew safe. They're calling local officials and disability rights advocates for their help. Let's add our voices to the Stevens family's campaign and tell Fairfax County Schools - and specifically Fort Belvoir Elementary - to let Alliya protect Andrew while he's at school. Sign the Change.org petition today.

Photo credit: Janek Mann via Flickr