Interview with Jenny Barlos, Client Services Director for the Ability Center Assistance Dogs
Assistance dogs can be found in the workplace and in the community.\xa0 Pharmacists serve people of all abilities, and we occasionally see a service animal with a patient.\xa0 This interview is a great opportunity to hear how assistance dogs come into our patients lives and how pharmacists can actually help connect patients with assistance dogs.\xa0 On a personal note, my son had a therapy dog.\xa0 I talk about my family\u2019s experience during the interview. \xa0
Today\u2019s episode is an interview with Jenny Barlos, Client Services Director for the Ability Center Assistance Dogs in Sylvania, OH.\xa0 Jenny joined Assistance Dogs as the Client Services Director in August, 2007. She is responsible for everything from the consumer\u2019s perspective, including determining eligibility of potential service dog users, organizing and facilitating their training and graduate activities, doing graduate follow up visits, and administering the public access test for the service dogs placed by the program.\xa0 She provides advocacy services for graduates who experience public access issues as well as discusses advocacy information for businesses and the public.\xa0 She does many educational presentations about service dogs including what they do to help people, as well as the rights and responsibilities of having a service dog.\xa0 She serves as an accreditation assessor for Assistance Dogs International, visiting service dog programs throughout North America to help determine which organizations are maintaining standards set within the industry.\xa0 To learn more about the Ability Center Assistance Dogs Program, visit https://www.abilitycenter.org.
Highlights from the interview
Jenny loves what she does!
Assistance dogs can increase independence for individuals with challenges.\xa0 Dogs help people stay active and feel included in their communities, which reduces feelings of isolation.\xa0 Ability Center Assistance Dogs trains and places service dogs and therapy dogs.\xa0
The Assistance Dogs Program is part of the Ability Center\u2019s 17-acre campus in Sylvania, OH.\xa0 It\u2019s very accessible and comfortable for people of all abilities. \xa0
There are many types of assistance dogs.\xa0 Ability Center Assistance Dogs provides therapy dogs to individuals (with autism or developmental delays) and schools as well as service dogs to help individuals with physical challenges.\xa0 Jenny helps educate the community about types of assistance dogs.\xa0 For example, therapy dogs don\u2019t have protected public assess rights like service dogs. \xa0
Jenny educates medical professionals about assistance dogs.\xa0 Pharmacists, nurses, doctors, students, and more can refer patients to the Ability Center Assistance Dogs Program.\xa0 Visit abilitycenter.org for success stories, inquiry forms, and volunteer opportunities.\xa0 Dog-loving volunteers are needed! \xa0
Pairing an assistance dog with an applicant is a process.\xa0 Personalities and needs must be considered.\xa0
My son learned new skills because of his dog.\xa0 We had a good experience.\xa0 For example, my son's classmates read to him AND his dog \u201cBond.\u201d\xa0 So, he gained friends.\xa0 He was also motivated to learn how to scoop dog food, which was a skill he did not have before the dog came into the picture.\xa0 It takes time to learn what the dog can do and to teach the dog new things. \xa0
The Ability Center Assistance Dogs has a dog breeding program.\xa0 One of their recent litters has names related to beverages.\xa0 \u201cDr. Pepper\u201d is a black lab from that litter.\xa0 They call her \u201cPepper.\u201d
Training teams takes time: 1 week in-person training for therapy dogs and 2 weeks in-person training for service dogs.\xa0 Extra time gives a service dog and their teammate the training and support needed to navigate public access situations
Inmates at prisons help train assistance dogs.\xa0 Inmates are available to work, and they do a good job.\xa0 Training dogs teaches empathy and unconditional love.\xa0 Plus, it gives inmates an opportunity to contribute back to society.\xa0 Inmates learn job skills and are motivated to maintain good behavior to stay in the training program.\xa0 It also allows them to feel more human and to be a better human being. \xa0
Donations are welcome.\xa0 Scout troops, school classrooms, reading groups, high school student service projects, and individual children have donated in the past.\xa0 See https://www.abilitycenter.org for a list of items needed.\xa0 Monetary donations are always welcome too.\xa0 Jenny likes to talk to donors to make a connection between their donation and the recipient.\xa0 She brings a dog and shares information about the Assistance Dogs Program, including how to be a responsible citizen around an assistance dog.
Think of Assistance Dogs as a tool for safety and independence.\xa0 It\u2019s best not to distract a dog or touch it while it is work. \xa0
The coronavirus pandemic has brought challenges to the Assistance Dogs Program.\xa0 For example, surface (leash, collar, etc) to human virus transmission is a minor consideration.\xa0 Luckily, dogs do not get or transmit the coronavirus, and they do not need to wear masks. \xa0
Jenny shared a lovely story about a young grandmother who met her neighbors because her assistance dog got her out into the community and provided an ice-breaker for conversations.\xa0 This woman met the inmate who trained her dog, and they connected because the dog made them\xa0 both \u201cseen\u201d to those around them in a good way. \xa0