Students who use service animals need only contact the Special Populations office to register as a student with disabilities if they need to request other appropriate accommodation. LIT may request documentation to show what service the animal provides.

A service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform a specific task to help a person with a disability.

In addition to the provisions about service dogs, the Department's ADA regulations have a separate provision about miniature horses that have been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. (Miniature horses generally range in height from 24 inches to 34 inches measured to the shoulders and generally weigh between 70 and 100 pounds.) Entities covered by the ADA must modify their policies to permit miniature horses where reasonable. The regulations set out four assessment factors to assist entities in determining whether miniature horses can be accommodated in their facility. The assessment factors are (1) whether the miniature horse is housebroken; (2) whether the miniature horse is under the owner's control; (3) whether the facility can accommodate the miniature horse's type, size, and weight; and (4) whether the miniature horse's presence will not compromise legitimate safety requirements necessary for safe operation of the facility. (from ada.gov)

Some tasks that service animals do but are not limited to are:

• guiding a person who has a visual impairment
• pulling a wheelchair
• alerting a person who has a hearing impairment or who is deaf
• alerting a person who has a seizure disorder
• reminding a person to take prescribed medication

An individual with a disability may be accompanied by his/her service dog in all parts of the LIT campus where other students, faculty and staff, members of the public, or participants of services, programs, or activities can go.

LIT may exclude a service animal from campus if its behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. The institution may also remove an animal from campus if the animal's behavior is uncontrolled and the individual does not take effective action to control it.

An animal that only provides comfort or emotional support is not legally considered a service animal per the ADA. These animals are not service animals and will not be allowed in the classrooms, cafeteria, or other public areas on the campus. For more general information on service animals please click here.