Our last article outlined how an education standard could include a province-wide policy for allowing students to bring their service animals to school. Once an elementary or high school student’s service animal is allowed in school, staff should know how to interact with it. In addition, fellow staff members may also have service animals. Moreover, staff of other educational institutions should also know how to behave around service animals. For instance, staff at universities, colleges, and private schools should know how to interact with the service animals of students or colleagues. In this article, we suggest some best practices for interacting with service animals in school.
AODA Resources
Resources on issues of accessibility and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
Service Animals in Schools
The AODA does not yet have an education standard. Two committees are making recommendations about what an education standard should include. Our recent articles have considered how the education standards can build on requirements from the AODA’s existing standards. Now, we will explore new mandates that the education standards could create. One issue that an education standard should address is service animals in schools. Currently, students must ask their school boards if they can bring their service animals to school. Every school board must make its own service animal policy. A new standard is needed for service animals in schools.
Accessible School Field Trips
Our last article outlined how an education standard could improve transportation services for students with disabilities. One improvement could be plans to help more students attend field trips. In this article, we will explore more ways to plan accessible field trips.
Accessible Field Trips
Field trips are an important part of school life. They give students the chance to learn in different ways by visiting new places. Moreover, field trips can help make school subjects mean more for students. For instance, students can take field trips to visit:
School Transportation Services
The AODA does not yet have an education standard. Two committees are making recommendations about what an education standard should include. In the meantime, the Transportation Standards have rules that apply to school transportation. School transportation services make schools more accessible to students with disabilities.
Universal Design in School
Our last article explored how an education standard could mandate an individual accommodation process for students with disabilities. In this article, we discuss universal design, a different way to make learning accessible for students. We describe what universal design is and how it makes school more accessible.