Debbie Snapp
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Jefferson County resident Michelle Coker has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is a disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event.
In addition to her PTSD, Coker has been diagnosed with narcolepsy, a neurological disorder that causes persistent sleeplessness and additional symptoms such as brief episodes of muscle weakness known as catalepsy, vivid, dreamlike hallucinations, brief episodes of paralysis when falling asleep or upon awakening (sleep paralysis) and fragmented nighttime sleep.
Symptoms may include nightmares or unwanted memories of the trauma, avoidance of situations that bring back memories of the trauma, heightened reactions, anxiety, depressed mood, seizures and unconsciousness.
“Most people relate PTSD with the military,” she says. “I've had PTSD since my teenage years. I am totally disabled, and that in itself is depressing,” Coker explains.
Coker adds that after a vehicle accident in her younger years, she struggled to concentrate on everyday activities. She would fall asleep and get agitated. Her condition got so bad that she had to leave high school and continue her education at home.
Coker entered into the Army National Guard in April 2009, and she was doing very well in this environment until an incident triggered an episode and she had to leave her military career behind in November 2009. Because people don't understand PTSD, keeping a job is very hard and disappointing for Coker, as well as the many other sufferers of PTSD.
For those who live with PTSD, there are an assortment of treatment options that include different types of trauma-focused psychotherapy, medications to manage symptoms and therapy dogs.
Dogs are often seen in positions of aid and therapy to humans - seeing-eye guide dogs being one of the common ways people may identify dogs with a daily assistance to their human handlers.
For Coker, it was after an assessment that she received several years ago, that the option to employ a service dog became an option for treating her own medical and mental matters.
For several years, Coker worked with professionals to learn about the options that were right for her, and service dogs have been a constant part of her life for some time now.
Coker says that it was her doctors who originally insisted that she try working with these well-trained dogs, and she got her first dog, Buddy, when she was just 23. He was an Emotional Support Animal; an at-home animal. She got her first full access service dog, Jada, in 2017.
Service dogs are trained to perform many duties, including but not limited to, alleviating anxiety and distress and providing psycho-emotional grounding by nudging, pawing and leaning. Coker's service dogs assist her by waking her from the night terrors and nightmares that she experiences due to her conditions.
While Coker's original service dogs have passed on, she is now accompanied by a blue pit bull named Diamond, who is often spotted by her side every day, everywhere she goes. Diamond was just 10-weeks-old when she came to aid Coker.
Diamond alerts her to the onset of a seizure or a headache, which in turn tells Coker to sit down and be calm. There have been times when Coker will lay back and literally pass out. But, Diamond stays by her side and in her own way...keeps onlookers away until Coker's mood passes, sometimes for several minutes.
Coker says that she continues to have good days and bad days, and sometimes when she experiences a migraine, she passes out. “That's what Diamond is here for,” she adds. “She watches over me until I come to. She protects me. She feels my fear, my joy. I love her. She's a good friend.”
Coker advises onlookers to keep their distance from the service dog when something like this happens. “Don't approach, and always ask first before you touch her or even get close to her."
Coker may not "fit the image" that most people identify as a person in need of a service dog, but there are plenty of people who have disabilities that depend on the aid a dog can provide. Because of this, Coker has faced some discrimination from onlookers who don't realize that Diamond is a service dog.
For people who are curious about service dogs and the rules related to them, Coker advises them to look up The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life...to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in State and local government programs and services.
Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, the ADA is an "equal opportunity" law, not a benefit program entitling you to specific services or financial assistance because of your disability.
The ADA uses different standards than the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs in determining disability status. The ADA covers people with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as walking, speaking, lifting, hearing, seeing, reading, eating, sleeping, concentrating, or working. Major life activities also include the operation of major bodily functions such as brain, immune system, respiratory, neurological, digestive and circulatory functions.
Businesses and state and local government agencies must take reasonable steps to make it possible for people with disabilities to be their employees or customers.
Service dogs - of all breeds, sizes and responsibilities - are important aspects of many disabled citizen's lives, Michelle Coker included.
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