Hardaway High School has a new student, Sarah. She’s got brown eyes, curly hair and four legs.
Sarah, a Labradoodle, is a service dog accompanying Jeffrey Victor, an 18-year-old autistic student at the high school. Sarah acts as a companion for Victor, goes with him to classes, making sure he doesn’t get lost or confused in the hallways, helping him build confidence and independence as he interacts with people.
“Do you want to meet my dog? She’s a nice dog. She won’t bite,” Victor says as he comes into the front office and assistant principal Cathy Kirkland comes up to pet Sarah.
Sarah is in her sixth week at Hardaway. Principal Matt Bell said Sarah is the first service dog he’s ever had at the school, since he came to Hardaway 13 years ago.
“I wasn’t really shocked, with a school this size,” Bell said. With more than 1,600 students, the school has one of the largest enrollments in Muscogee County. Many of the hallways are marked as one-way hallways to help manage the crowds between classes.
Victor’s mother, Reggie Richards, said the high school has been very flexible, acclimating students and teachers to Sarah’s presence.
“It was like it was just another work day,” Richards said of when she asked Bell about bringing Sarah to school.
“The biggest thing is we had to prepare the students for it,” Bell added.
Derick Pugh, who teaches Victor’s physical education class, said some students were wary of the dog; in class, they talked about the difference between working dogs, like Sarah, and pets. For example, Sarah never gets “people food” and she is trained not to beg, said Sarah’s trainer, Anita Rabidou.
“We implemented some curriculum to let them know that Sarah was not a pet,” he said.
Sarah was donated to Victor through PAWS Columbus. The organization paid for her training, which began when Sarah was 8-weeks old. Rabidou said the basics of training a service dog are all the same. Dogs are then given advanced training based on what each person needs.
“With autism, there’s so many different levels of autism, the training is really tailored to the individuals,” Rabidou said.
In Victor’s case, Sarah is trained to be a constant companion. She sleeps near him at night and knows his breathing. She knows to block Victor if he tries to step off the curb into the street or go someplace he is not supposed to go. She knows his schedule, makes sure he doesn’t get confused, lost or wander off with a stranger.
She also helps him build confidence and independence. He is able to go into a public restroom by himself now; Sarah knows to sit and wait for him. At school, she goes with him from class to class, curling up on the floor under his desk while Victor does his schoolwork.
Richards said Victor is “hyper social,” and will talk with anyone, but he has issues about personal space. She said Sarah helps remind Victor about maintaining that space when approaching people.
“Jeffrey is talking with Sarah about space, but he’s also telling himself,” she said.
Sarah is still in training; Rabidou will continue lessons with the dog for about a year, while Victor continues to bond with the dog. Richards said the bonding time is vital and the staff at Hardaway have been very accepting of Sarah.
“Even in the hallways, the situation has been a good experience,” Richards said. “Everyone knows Jeffrey at school.”
She talks about getting a Hardaway T-shirt for Sarah to wear and Kirkland, the assistant principal, agrees.
“I really need to see about getting a Hardaway High School ID for her,” she said.
Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469
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