50 signatures reached
To: southern housing, Housing Ombudsman , The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP
Allow those in social housing with a disability a support animal
I want every child or adult that would benefit from an emotional support animal to be able to have one. I believe it is unfair and discriminatory for any housing association to not allow this under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. It has been proven that an emotional support animal can reduce the violent and often self harming episodes of those effected significantly. This not only enhances their lives , but those living with them. It also reduced the chances of damage to the property that the family is housed in. Housing associations would not discriminate against someone who needed a guide dog because they were blind or A dog that can sense seizures before they happen in an epileptic person so why deprive autistic children and adults of what can also be a life changing helper. CHANGE your policies- allow these people to have the support that the need.
Why is this important?
My child is 11 and ASD & ADHD - she had at least five violent melt downs daily- we all suffer, her especially. She will smash her head on walls, pull her hair out and she will attack me (her mum) , and the rest of her family. WE have been staying with my mum through a lot of lockdown and have noticed that the influence of her dog (Loki) is massively calming for her. He can sense when she is upset or angry or about to blow her top and he will go to her and snuggle with her and calm her down. In turn this makes the lives of the whole family more enjoyable. I am in social housing by circumstance, I had my own house and myself and my ex had well paying jobs when we had our children (I won't go into it|) but I never expected to end up in social housing ..however when being in social housing a lot of the time means that you get placed in a small fat with NO outside play areas it really does make life hard, throw additional needs into the mix and it is sometimes untenable. Allow these children to have the support animals that can benefit the whole family or just stop placing them into flats with no play areas and into houses with gardens where this would't be a problem.
