When dogs go to school

So, as I am browsing through the nation's headlines, I find yet another story about Autism, or at least about a dog who belongs to a little boy with Autism (http://www.kcra.com/news/16331182/detail.html). So, Autism is being diagnosed in epidemic proportions. The latest statistic I have seen is 1 in 96 boys, or 1 in 150 children, born in America fall somewhere on the Autism Spectrum. Think about that number. If you go out shopping, you will probably encounter at least that number of children throughout the day. That means, you are seeing these children. In this particular story, the child is denied access to his preschool because of his service dog. Of course I wonder if the parents cleared this with the school officials before the child started school. But on the flip side, I think school need to be prepared for these types of things. It seems that most parents I have encountered want to mainstream their children in the classrooms. Fine and dandy, but what about the dog? More and more autistic children are getting service dogs to help them cope with everyday life. What about the other children that are allergic or have a phobia of dogs? I don't really have a good answer. I know that dogs are everywhere. After flying from Seattle to Baltimore and back, I think I saw more doggie strollers than human strollers. Dogs are more than welcome in stores like Home Depot, service dogs or not. It is almost impossible to avoid dogs. Someone had better come up with a good solution to this before lawsuits start popping up.
Of course, my own autistic son loves animals, esp. dogs. Thirteen grand for a service dog though? Wow. Of course if it really helped his emotional outbursts, it would be worth every penny. I got a black eye from him yesterday and today he bruised the side of my nose. Seriously. I don't think there is enough Assam to get me through the next 50 years.....