Are students allowed service dogs in secondary school?

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My child has SEN. He's not autistic but his condition shares many autistic features - think speech disorder and SPD. He is borderline between needing a special needs school or going to mainstream. With the right support he is academically 'average'.

My concerns regarding mainstream are him finding his way around, stress, bullying and communication.

I admit I have not massively looked into service dogs yet. But it could be an idea, to avoid a 1:1 full time TA (id love hun ti have some independence at lunch and break times for example and getting home).

Is it crazy to consider a service dog? Would they even be allowed in school?

He's young primary aged at the moment so I'm thinking ahead. Thanks!

No idea, but my instinct is it would be against safeguarding for a dog to be only under the control of a child, not an adult, in school. It would make your son responsible for protecting the dog from every enthusiastic peer who might want to stroke it, managing every interaction with every child who is fearful of dogs, and keeping all the other children safe from the dog even if they tread on its tail or crowd it. To me it sounds unfair to your child and to others. I'm struggling to imagine a risk assessment that would pass muster without an adult shadowing the dog. But it is just a guess.

A lot of schools have therapy dogs but I assume they're not assigned to one pupil or allowed to freely run around the school.

I've never heard of this for the purposes you're suggesting. It would be a big responsibility for your dc- who would be responsible for meeting the dogs toileting, exercise , food needs for 6 hours a day?

Last year a child at my DS’s state secondary school was given permission for a guide dog to be on school’s premises so it can be allowed

Yes, it is possible for students with disabilities to have service dogs in school, including secondary school. However, it depends on the guidelines and requirements of the country or state where the school is located. For example, in the United States, service dogs are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Before considering a service dog, it is important to do thorough research and consult with professionals.

I would probably go for a SEN school rather than this. They will have structures to give him independence. But equally the things you’re worried about, a dog would not necessarily help with - a dog can’t prevent bullying for example or likely help him to communicate. If he doesn’t already, your son needs an EHCP which can put special provisions in place to tackle all your worries.

Before you even get into any of the finer details, how is the toileting of the dog going to work? Is he going to have to miss lesson or break time to take it out? Presumably he’d have to take it off school site as health and safety wise they can’t have a dog doing it’s business on a playground or area the students would be and they can’t ask your son to disinfect etc. I doubt many members of staff (unless you get lucky with very doggy staff) would be happy to take on the responsibility, and then what happens when they’re off?

service dogs can be a wonderful resource, but I don’t think they’re the answer to this particular worry.