New day, new .... something.

     After yesterday's post, some rather inspiring things happened. I spoke with a lady at the Illinois Attorney General's office. She and I discussed our dog, Thor. We talked about the fact that he's mostly an ESA for us, but that he wakes Jacob up in the mornings since he doesn't respond to alarms and he changes Jacob's focus during a meltdown thus preventing self-harm. She told me that since he performs at least TWO tasks that are specific to Jacob's disability, then he is actually considered to be a service dog. I said "But he doesn't qualify for certification because he's too friendly and a little barky." She told me that certification isn't REQUIRED. She also told me that schools, businesses, and housing facilities aren't allowed to ask about an animal's certification, training, or the person's disability. They are only allowed to ask if the dog is a service animal, and what tasks he has been trained to perform for the disable individual. Excited, I emailed my husband and our attorney.

     Fast forward to this morning. The husband and I had a conference call with our attorney. He disagrees with the Attorney General's office's interpretation of the law. He said that this is a litigation point, and that he's not comfortable with going to bat over this. He also said that since the only point of disagreement between us and the District seems to be the dog, he's not comfortable with going to Due Process with us because we don't have a case. We reminded him that the disagreement is that they DO NOT have a Crisis plan in place, and they've ignored the numerous letters from Jacob's medical team. His only response was "Well, they feel like they have an adequate plan in place. We don't really have room to fight. But you are welcome to find another attorney who will fight these points for you. I'm just not comfortable with it."

What the ever living FRACK?!? We told him when we HIRED him that we were prepared to litigate, go to due process, and whatever it takes to ensure our son's safety in the school setting. We were upfront and honest, and he said that he was on board. NOW, after us paying him thousands of dollars, HE'S NOT COMFORTABLE WITH FIGHTING FOR THIS?!?!

So, on to find another attorney. On to contacting other resources. On to .... who knows what. Home schooling?

FYI ...
http://www.ag.state.il.us/rights/servanimals.html
http://www.isbe.net/spec-ed/html/civil_rights_usde.htm