PSD and College

[LWolf]

Hey everyone,

So I posted here a longg time ago about getting a PSD. I have been doing a lot of research since then(and having a lot of things happen in between). I was talking to a staff person at my program today about possibly getting a PSD. She asked what I thought about having a PSD and being in college. I don't live at college but would be going part time, eventually full time. What are people's experiences with service dogs and being in college(specifically PSDs)? Are there a lot of access problems? Weird stares? Questions? Are people accepting? Do you feel like you have to tell everyone about the exact nature of your disability?

Thanks! 
Liam

[Rovingrebel]

Often times colleges simply required you go through the accommodation process withe student disability support services.

[cowlypso]

Are there a lot of access problems? Weird stares? Questions? Are people accepting? Do you feel like you have to tell everyone about the exact nature of your disability?

All of these questions are basic issues that a service dog user faces every day, whether they are in college or not.  Before you get a service dog, you need to seriously think about your ability to deal with these issues.  Because you will, on a regular basis, have to deal with access problems, weird stares, questions, unaccepting people, and people who ask inappropriate questions about the nature of your disability. 

[Angie]

Those are basic problems you would face everyday, no matter where you go. People will stare at you, gawk at you, annoy you, annoy the dog, tell you to get out, ask you about the dog, your medical conditions, why you have a dog in public...I have been asked everything from how I go to the bathroom to how it is I can be in public and not only at home. I've been talked to like I'm a 4 year old, had people talk to the person with me or just ignore me flat out.

I've had people kick my dog, kiss at my dog, make strange sounds at the dog, yell at the dog, scream, run away, throw food, follow us, yell at us, grab his backpack, grab the leash, block us on purpose, call the police, etc. I also run into very nice people and generally have no problems in places.

Its normal everyday life and a dog will make it sometimes better and sometimes worse. Either way you are now labeled as different than everyone else. If your problems are invisible to people than you will have a serious wake up call with a dog because you have now labeled yourself. You would have to be able to deal with the neverending realities of using a dog in public places.

[k1maplewd]

I had 7 years with a SD, then 10months between dogs and now have one again.  In those 10 months between I forgot just how intrusive and rude John Q Public was.  And yes when I started with a dog again, part of that was getting used to all of the stupid people in the world all over again.  People who act as if they don't have a synaps between 2 neurons when in the presence of a dog.  It is frustrating and highly annoying.  Have to say it is one very negative drawback to using a service dog, but for me all of the other benifits outweight that drawback.  You have to decide for yourself if it would be as such for you. 

[Roxie]

I agree with the opinions stated because I too experience the same BS every day be it at the library, professional conference, grocery store or walking down the street.

Also, if you address and identify your SD as a P SD - you open the doors to further issues/discrimination and painful (emotionally) experiences.

A SD is an SD no matter if they are for hearing, mobility, peanut detection or toe fungus detection.

So, if you like confrontation and insults identify your SD as a P SD. If you just like confrontation call it an SD.

[LWolf]

Thanks for all of the honest replies. I kind of expressed this to my counselor. I don't know from first hand experience, but I gather from reading these
posts(and others) that having an SD is  not always a cakewalk. I have a little bit of experience with people gawking, asking questions, etc. I am a
transgender identified male and when I wasn't "passing" as male I got the rudest stares, comments, etc. People would stop me in the bathroom and ask
if I was in the right place. People would try to touch my chest to see if I had male or female parts.
People would flat out call me a "He-she", scream at me, harass me on the bus, etc. Not saying that an experience with an SD is exactly the same but I think I know what some of that feels like.

I guess its one of those things that you have to experience first hand(I mean having an SD in public) to know what it feels like. But, harassment is something that I am all too familiar with.

Thanks again!

[Roxie]

LWolf - you are totally cool with me.

[Angie]

LWolf...that just makes me want to scream. People can be such jerks and I'm sorry you have had to deal with that. Yes, the experiences can be similar so you have to just be prepared for being "different" again. People cross all kinds of boundaries and disability is not sheltered from idiots either.

Welcome, I'm glad to meet you!

[HumSD]

I went to college with my PSD. I had it cleared through the Student Disability Resource Center and was given a special ID card for him every year that he had to wear at all time while on campus. 

My fellow students mostly left us alone and we had LOTS of wooded areas to go potty. I made the mistake of ignoring Mordy's alerts during a test once and ended up falling out of my chair while panicking. Mordy was all over me to do grounding and this brought up some questions from my classmates. Most of my fellow music majors were understanding as our music classes were EXTREMEMLY stressful and Ear Training (the class we were in) is the most dreaded of all.


As a side note before posting, we can a lady on campus who was post-op male to female.  She often got harassed and once even groped on campus.   Campus police knew her schedule and she got escorted from class to class, it was her idea and she felt safer that way.  And this was at a liberal schools where girls often don't shave anything and some students have all their hair matted into one massive dreadlock and the campus bookstore sells hoodies made of hemp.  So you could talk to campus security if you are continually harassed.

There were lots of people in town who would bring their dogs to walk/hike in the woods that are just behind the campus. Most of them were leashed but we had a couple incidents with some who were not.  There was even a supposed hearing dog in the art dept. that wore no vest, school mandated ID card, or leash.  I complained to the SDRC and UPD a few times and the dog stopped coming to school.

[Lizzie86]

LWolf - you are totally cool with me.

Double ditto! 

I think that that is the one thing that will be the hardest to get used to; the general public. I've read and heard some of the horror stories (both from here and from friends) about public perception. One of my friends has been coaching me on what to say when that sort of situation occurs. Not because I am nervous or anxious about talking to people, but because I can be very snarky. (One woman asked me how I use the bathroom and I went into excruciating detail about how the body systems work.)

[Roxie]

(One woman asked me how I use the bathroom and I went into excruciating detail about how the body systems work.)

how awesome!  Luv it!!

[louie]

I went to a two week long grad course during the summer a couple summers ago. I got some questions, but mostly people didn't bother with us. We took a bus tour and the instructors were pretty wound up about how that was going to go - but I think Gidget managed the tour just as well as anyone. I had to leave the program a day early as Gidget, who usually lays next to me, sat in front of me, staring hard and pawing my knee, I knew I was falling apart, but wanted to make it through the last day by sheer force of will. After a half hour of her pawing I made arrangements to leave and spent the rest of the day in a panic/flashback/meltdown situation. I am glad I made arrangements prior to the meltdown as I was able to leave with only a few people seeing me crying and shaking. It was a boring time for her, but she did a good job.

[Stag]

Fellow transman here-- hey, dude.

I started college last semester with a SD. Generally nobody asked why I had the dog or what she was for-- the hardest thing to get used to was the screams of "AGH! A DOG!" in the hallway and having people leap out of the way. It DID make it easier for me to catch the elevator though.

As far as actually getting in, THAT was a battle. I had to fight them because they kept trying to say that because my condition was not yet diagnosed, it wasn't a disability and they couldn't accommodate it. They failed to understand (and this was the disability services office) that just because I had no label yet for my condition didn't make it any less disabling. However, I hope things won't be so bad this time around since they know me by this point.

[AshertoAsher]

Wait...Seth...why did I think you were a transwoman? (that's male to female, right?) I'm really not joking or trying to be sexist. I'm just a little confused and ignorant.

Anyway, my experience getting my dog approved at my law school was...interesting...to say the least. I had to give my University A LOT of documentation in order for them to approve my "application" to have a service dog on campus. They've been having a big faker problem because students got wind of the ESA laws and took advantage (i.e. brought their ESAs to class). While this was all happening, the LAW school was so excited to have more diversity to brag about, they tried to find funding for my dog (which they didn't find, but it was still pretty cool of them). Soooo...I asked the head of PSDS for legal advice, didn't like the advice I was given (which was essentially to litigate), and just handed in the application. Then the head of PSDS sent the director of disability services my private blog address because I had rants in there about the disability office and PSDS didn't want me getting a SD unless it was on their terms.

So it's a really long and confusing story but in the end I got approved to bring her so I'll see how it is next year. I certainly hope I get treated better than I already have.