A deaf and blind teenager is refusing to go to school after teachers banned her guide dog from the dining hall.
Molly Watt, 17, says she was left to eat lunch alone in a separate room because another pupil who uses the canteen is allergic to the dog.
And the pupil, who has been nominated by deafblind charity Sense to carry the Olympic flame, says she will not return until the ban is lifted.
She has since been signed off sick by a doctor after suffering a panic attack when she was separated from her black Labrador-retriever cross named Unis.So here we have two children who cannot share a school canteen together. One because he has a dog allergy and the other because she suffers from panic attacks.
The A-level student, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, has not attended classes at Mary Hare School in Newbury, Berkshire, since November 3
‘She was shaking, having panic attacks and was unable to sleep after being asked to leave Unis in a sideroom. Her doctor has signed her off sick.
Normally a blind person would be allowed pretty much unrestricted access for a guide dog, yet apparently she has been banned from the school canteen because another pupil apparently has such a bad dog allergy that he will break out in lumps, even from the other side of the room.
On the other hand, the blind girl apparently suffers from panic attacks the minute she is separated from her pooch. Her doctor seems to think that panic attacks are a real thing but you'll never sell it to me.
The allergy guy is:
at risk of a fatal anaphylactic shock if he comes into contact with the dog.The blind girl is:
fashion conscious and [does] not like to be seen with a cane. She would rather fall over.The school principal says:
he consulted medical experts and charity groups before making alternative arrangements, which included re-timetabling lessons and banning the dog from the dining room.The blind girls mother says:
He said it leaves Molly without Unis for less than two hours a week and he believes she could use alternative support - such as a stick or friend - to guide her during this time.
‘The alternative arrangements the school has put in place are not good enough.’Personally, and without anymore facts than those printed in the Daily Mail, I think enough has been done to accommodate this girls needs.
I'm not sure the 'refusal to return to school' protest is the right way to go either, as the last time I looked, A levels were not compulsory. She may have just solved the schools problem for them.
Molly - who is studying English, textiles and performing - was born deaf and lost her sight aged 14.And maybe that's no great loss. Unless she is hoping for a career as a literary critic of thespian costumes.
It seems for once, the lower hand in victimhood poker has come out on top. Some people are none too happy.
A petition called Justice 4 Deafblind guide-dog Owner Molly Watt has been signed by more than a thousand people, including former alumni.
Justice? What about justice for the chap who might die? I see he doesn't get an article in the newspaper.
16 Comments:
I reached the same conclusions.
And doesn't the boy ALSO want to 'fit in with his peers'?
"...her permanent disabilities present far more severe risks of death in every day situations such as crossing the road or descending stairs..."
Agreed. But not while she's having lunch or morning assemly, surely?
Julia - Good, I'll keep my eyes open for it
The entire article paints her as the victim and the allergy boy as irrelevant, yet his issue is with a possibly (if only slightly) fatal affliction and hers is with fasion sense and 'panic attacks'.
A compromise needed to be reached here, and to me it appears they reached the correct one.
This girl has a disability. She needs to come to terms with that and realise that sometimes she will need to use a cane and fasion be dammed. We do try to treat disabled people as though there is nothing wrong these days but that won't work.
The allergy guy may well be able to see and hear but that doesn't make a difference to his allergies does it? As Julia says, the blind girl is at risk in daily situations but not in the canteen, which is what this is about.
You, as with the paper, seem to think that the allergy guy is an irrelevance. The school came up with an amicable compromise between the two people. The blind girl and her advocates seem to think that she could come first above all others because she has a higher victim card and will carry the olympic torch.
On the contrary, she needs to accept that she is disabled and cannot always do what she wants and that sometimes she will meet situations where compromise is necessary.
We are indeed all going to die as you say, but I don't see why that means one person can increase the risk to another through thier actions. A person with a disability who "can never experience many things in life we take for granted" is not worth more as a human being than one with no disabilities.
There seems to be a focus on the girl's fashion sense, but we have only the Daily Mail's word that this is the centre of her complaint. To me, hers is the genuine disability and the boy needs to man up a bit.
I think, as you say in your second comment, that they both need to grow up a bit. Her inconvenience is only for two hours a week and his is only if he actually comes in contact with the dog. (apparently).
Whatever the true ins and outs of this situation, it certainly doesn't warrant the attention of the national press.
Spot on!
But I can't believe you said this...
"We are indeed all going to die as you say, but I don't see why that means one person can increase the risk to another through their actions."
You sound just like a Second Hand Smoke 20mph Zone Think of the Children Global Warming Alarmist:~)
Got any stats for allergy to dogs causing death by anaphylactic shock in schoolchildren? You don't have to narrow it down to black labs and schoolchildren, any dog, anyone will do:~)
My comment was in response to Johnnys "hey we all die so what the hell", wich I thought was not a valid arguement.
I'm sure there are stats for anaphylactic shock deaths, although they're probably few and far between. Bees probably cause a hell of a lot more than dogs.
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