organizations that provide service dogs to people with hearing loss
Service Dogs (also called Hearing Dogs) are trained to assist persons
with hearing loss in their everyday lives. Their duties generally
include notifying the hard of hearing or deaf person that the baby is crying,
the fire alarm is ringing, etc.
Hearing Dog Information
December 2012 - Three quarters of hearing dogs owners
turned away by service providers
April 2011 - Fake Hearing Dog Promotes Outrage
April 2011 - What can we do about fake service dogs?
November 2010 - A
Dark Night, a Hearing Dog, and a Day in Court
March 2010 - Consent Decree Reached in Service Dog Case
January 2009 - Taking Your Hearing Dog on a Cruise
Ship
November 2008 - Hearing Dog Program Launches in San
Francisco
June 2008 - SF/SPCA Teams with CCI to Provide Service
Dogs
June 2008 - First Public Service Dog Census Launches
January 2008 - CCI Seeks Qualified Hearing Dog
Applicants
December 2007 - Training of a Service Dog
June 2007 - Facts About Traveling with Service Animals
September 2006 - K9s hound the hearing impaired
September 2006 - One dog at a time
February 2006 - A pooch in a purse can't be
classified as a service animal.
February 2006 - Leader
dogs may soon need a ticket to fly
September 2005 - The Department of
Transportation is considering a change in rules regarding assistance
dogs on airplanes. The proposal would require, in the case of a full
plane, a disabled person to buy a seat for her hearing dog, wait for a
later flight, or have the dog travel in the cargo hold!
January 2005 - So where exactly do they
train hearing dogs? Prison, you say?
August 2004 - Hawaii
has loosened its restrictions on allowing assistance dogs into the state
- no quarantine required, provided certain restrictions are met. They
still seem pretty oppressive to me. Doesn't this violate the
ADA???
February
2004 - Ever heard of a "dual assistance" dog? One that
provides the services of both a hearing dog and a guide dog for the
blind? Here's an article about Scotland's first
"dual assistance" dog.
January
2002 - Interested in vacationing with your hearing dog? Here
are some accounts from folks who've had that experience. I think you'll
find them interesting and entertaining.
December
2001 - Have you ever wondered about the law concerning hearing dogs and
other service animals? Does an animal have to be "licensed" as
a service animal to have service animal privileges? Can disruptive
service animals be removed from public places? These and more questions
are answered in the following article from the US
Department of Justice.
The story about Dandy demonstrates the kinds
of things that hearing dogs can do.
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December 2012
Figures released by the Hearing Dogs for Deaf
People have revealed a shocking amount of discrimination against deaf
people who use hearing dogs. The report, released before the recent
National Stress Awareness Day, showed that 78 per cent of owners had at
least on one occasion been turned away from a service provider because of
their animal. The findings also showed that the experience left 52 per
cent of recipients angered, 45 per cent feeling discriminated against and
31 per cent embarrassed. Philip Biggs, access and inclusion manager at
Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, said: "Equality for deaf people with a
hearing dog is a human right and we must recognise that. "If recipients
are refused access while they are accompanied by a hearing dog, it can be
a traumatic and often isolating situation. As a charity, we hope that by
raising awareness of the work of a hearing dog, we will subsequently help
to educate service providers."
Full Story
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April 2011
Imagine you're confined to a wheelchair, blind,
autistic or suffer from a seizure disorder. Your dog has been trained for
two to three years to help you handle your disability which can include
everything from diabetes to PTSD in these days of advanced service dog
training techniques. Yet when you try to enter a supermarket, the manager
informs you your dog is not welcome. Now, that's not exactly legal. But
it's not uncommon. And while most of this less-than-tolerant behavior is
the unfortunate result of the kind of blithering ignorance that says dogs
are dirty and bad for business, much of it is currently being stoked by
those who would try to pass off their ill-behaved dogs as service dogs.
Full Story
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April 2011
I was shocked when a friend applied for a special
needs dog permit with the ADA (American Disabilities Act) so her dog could
accompany her to a restaurant, a grocery store, or a classroom. She simply
didn't want to leave her dog alone at home or in the car. She had no
hearing impairment or disability of any kind but with $20 and an
application, her dog became special-a hearing dog. My friend admitted
taking advantage of the system. Oh, loud and clear, it rang out to me. And
then I recalled her minor complaints that turned major in order to get a
refund; being short on cash at a restaurant, using a found disability
plaque just to park free, or getting back too much change and bragging
about it.
Full Story
