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- NATION, Page 55American NotesPENNSYLVANIANo Dogs Allowed
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- All sixth-grader Michael Gaudiello wants is his
- independence. Using a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy,
- he does not care to rely on others to open the doors, carry his
- books or help him get to the bathroom. Last spring freedom came
- in the form of a collie named Ashley, specially trained to help
- Michael through his day. When school officials in Delaware
- County, Pa., banned the dog from classes at his special school,
- Michael appealed to state officials. "It was my choice to fight
- for this," Gaudiello says. "I thought I was right and they were
- wrong."
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- The state department of education ruled that Michael should
- be "mainstreamed" into a school in his home district of
- Chichester. The new school promised to accept Ashley, install
- wheelchair ramps and assign attendants to help him use the
- bathroom twice a day. But all Michael wants is to take Ashley
- to his old school. His parents have challenged the dog ban as
- discriminatory against the disabled.
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