Source: https://www.dyscalculia.org/college-dyscalculia/ld-law-hs-to-college
Timestamp: 2019-06-26 04:47:51
Document Index: 569256037

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 35', '§ 35', '§ 104', '§ 104', '§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 12102', '§ 300', '§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 104', '§ 35', '§ 104', '§ 35']

TO COLLEGE WITH A DISABILITY
Guidance from U.S. Department of Education, Arne Duncan, Secretary
Office for Civil Rights, Russlynn Ali, Assistant Secretary
*First published March 2007. Reprinted March 2011.
Source: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transitionguide.html
Introduction | Frequently Asked Questions | The Admissions Process | Post-Admission: Documentation of a Disability | Keys to Success: Attitude, Self-Advocacy and Preparation | Endnotes
This guide was developed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR has enforcement responsibilities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), as amended, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, (Title II), which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.
Every school district and nearly every college and university in the United States is subject to one or both of these laws, which have similar requirements.
1 Private postsecondary institutions that do not receive federal financial assistance are not subject to Section 504 or Title II. They are, however, subject to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice and which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by private entities that are not private clubs or religious entities.
This guide also makes reference to Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides funds to states to assist in making a free appropriate public education (FAPE) available to eligible children with disabilities. IDEA requirements apply to state education agencies, school districts and other public agencies that serve IDEA-eligible children. Institutions of postsecondary education have no legal obligations under the IDEA.2
Similarly, this guide references the state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Program, authorized by the Rehabilitation Act, which provides funds to state VR agencies to assist eligible individuals with disabilities in obtaining employment. State VR agencies provide a wide range of employment-related services, including services designed to facilitate the transition of eligible students with disabilities from school to post-school activities.3
It depends. In general, tests may not be selected or administered in a way that tests the disability rather than the achievement or aptitude of the individual.4 In addition, federal law requires changes to the testing conditions that are necessary to allow a student with a disability to participate as long as the changes do not fundamentally alter the examination or create undue financial or administrative burdens.5 Although some institutions of postsecondary education may have their own entrance exams, many use a student’s score on commercially available tests.
In general, in order to request one or more changes in standardized testing conditions, which test administrators may also refer to as “testing accommodations”6, the student will need to contact the institution of postsecondary education or the entity that administers the exam and provide documentation of a disability and the need for a change in testing conditions. The issue of documentation is discussed below.
Examples of changes in testing conditions that may be available include, but are not limited to:
Braille; Large print; Fewer items on each page; Tape recorded responses; Responses on the test booklet;
Frequent breaks; Extended testing time; Testing over several sessions; Small group setting; Private room; Preferential seating; and The use of a sign language interpreter for spoken directions.
Generally, institutions of postsecondary education are not permitted to make what is known as a “preadmission inquiry” about an applicant’s disability status. Preadmission inquiries are permitted only if the institution of postsecondary education is taking remedial action to correct the effects of past discrimination or taking voluntary action to overcome the effects of conditions that limited the participation of individuals with disabilities.7
Examples of impermissible preadmission inquiries include: Are you in good health? Have you been hospitalized for a medical condition in the past five years? Institutions of postsecondary education may inquire about an applicant’s ability to meet essential program requirements provided that such inquiries are not designed to reveal disability status. For example, if physical lifting is an essential requirement for a degree program in physical therapy, an acceptable question that could be asked is, "With or without reasonable accommodation, can you lift 25 pounds?" After admission, in response to a student’s request for “academic adjustments,8” reasonable modifications or auxiliary aids and services, institutions of postsecondary education may ask for documentation regarding disability status.
No. A student has no obligation to inform an institution of postsecondary education that he or she has a disability; however, if the student wants an institution to provide an academic adjustment or assign the student to accessible housing or other facilities, or if a student wants other disability-related services, the student must identify himself or herself as having a disability. The disclosure of a disability is always voluntary. For example, a student who has a disability that does not require services may choose not to disclose his or her disability.
Such modifications to the academic requirements as are necessary to ensure that such requirements do not discriminate or have the effect of discriminating, on the basis of disability against a qualified ... applicant or student with a disability. Academic requirements that the recipient can demonstrate are essential to the instruction being pursued by such student or to any directly related licensing requirement will not be regarded as discriminatory within the meaning of this section.
Modifications may include changes in the length of time permitted for the completion of degree requirements, substitution of specific courses required for the completion of degree requirements, and adaptation of the manner in which specific courses are conducted.11
Academic adjustments also may include a reduced course load, extended time on tests and the provision of auxiliary aids and services. Auxiliary aids and services are defined in the Section 504 regulations at 34 C.F.R. § 104.44(d), and in the Title II regulations at 28 C.F.R. § 35.104. They include note-takers, readers, recording devices, sign language interpreters, screen-readers, voice recognition and other adaptive software or hardware for computers, and other devices designed to ensure the participation of students with impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills in an institution’s programs and activities.
Institutions are not required to provide personal devices and services such as attendants, individually prescribed devices, such as eyeglasses, readers for personal use or study, or other services of a personal nature, such as tutoring.
If institutions offer tutoring to the general student population, however, they must ensure that tutoring services also are available to students with disabilities.
In some instances, a state VR agency may provide auxiliary aids and services to support an individual’s postsecondary education and training once that individual has been determined eligible to receive services under the VR program.
Institutions may set their own requirements for documentation so long as they are reasonable and comply with Section 504 and Title II. It is not uncommon for documentation standards to vary from institution to institution; thus, students with disabilities should research documentation standards at those institutions that interest them. A student must provide documentation, upon request, that he or she has a disability, that is, an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity12 and that supports the need for an academic adjustment. The documentation should identify how a student’s ability to function is limited as a result of her or his disability. The primary purpose of the documentation is to establish a disability in order to help the institution work interactively with the student to identify appropriate services. The focus should be on whether the information adequately documents the existence of a current disability and need for an academic adjustment.
The student. Institutions of postsecondary education are not required to conduct or pay for an evaluation to document a student’s disability and need for an academic adjustment, although some institutions do so. If a student with a disability is eligible for services through the state VR Services program, he or she may qualify for an evaluation at no cost. High school educators can assist students with disabilities in locating their state VR agency at http://rsa.ed.gov (click on “Info about RSA,” then “Resources,” then “State and Local Government Employment Resources,” then “Vocational Rehabilitation Offices”). If students with disabilities are unable to find other funding sources to pay for necessary evaluation or testing for postsecondary education, they are responsible for paying for it themselves.
9. Is a student’s most recent individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan sufficient documentation to support the existence of a disability and the need for an academic adjustment in a postsecondary setting?
Generally, no. Although an IEP or Section 504 plan may help identify services that have been used by the student in the past, they generally are not sufficient documentation to support the existence of a current disability and need for an academic adjustment from an institution of postsecondary education. Assessment information and other material used to develop an IEP or Section 504 plan may be helpful to document a current disability or the need for an academic adjustment or auxiliary aids and services. In addition, a student receiving services under Part B of the IDEA must be provided with a summary of his or her academic achievements and functional performance that includes recommendations on how to assist in meeting the student’s postsecondary goals.13 This information may provide helpful information about disability and the need for an academic adjustment.
10. What can high school personnel, such as school psychologists and counselors, transition specialists, special education staff, do to assist students with disabilities with documentation requirements?
It depends. Institutions are not required to provide an academic adjustment that would alter or waive essential academic requirements.15 They also do not have to provide an academic adjustment that would fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program or activity or result in undue financial or administrative burdens considering the institution’s resources as a whole.16
For example, an appropriate academic adjustment may be to extend the time a student with a disability is allotted to take tests, but an institution is not required to change the substantive content of the tests. In addition, an institution is not required to make modifications that would result in undue financial or administrative burdens.
Public institutions are required to give primary consideration to the auxiliary aid or service that the student requests, but can opt to provide alternative aids or services if they are effective. They can also opt to provide an effective alternative if the requested auxiliary aid or service would fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program or activity or result in undue financial or administrative burdens. For example, if it would be a fundamental alteration or undue burden to provide a student with a disability with a note-taker for oral classroom presentations and discussions and a tape recorder would be an effective alternative, a postsecondary institution may provide the student with a tape recorder instead of a note-taker.
16. What should students expect in working with a disability coordinator at an institution of postsecondary education?
A high school counselor, a special education teacher or a VR counselor may meet with high school students with disabilities to provide services or monitor their progress under their education plans on a periodic basis.
The role of the disability coordinator at an institution of postsecondary education is very different. At many institutions, there may be only one or two staff members to address the needs of all students with disabilities attending the institution. The disability coordinator evaluates documentation, works with students to determine appropriate services, assists students in arranging services or testing modifications, and deals with problems as they arise. A disability coordinator may have contact with a student with a disability only two or three times a semester. Disability coordinators usually will not directly provide educational services, tutoring or counseling, or help students plan or manage their time or schedules. Students with disabilities are, in general, expected to be responsible for their own academic programs and progress in the same ways that nondisabled students are responsible for them.
Once a student has identified him- or herself as an individual with a disability, requested an academic adjustment and provided appropriate documentation upon request, institution staff should discuss with the student what academic adjustments are appropriate in light of the student’s individual needs and the nature of the institution’s program.
Students with disabilities possess unique knowledge of their individual disabilities and should be prepared to discuss the functional challenges they face and, if applicable, what has or has not worked for them in the past. Institution staff should be prepared to describe the barriers students may face in individual classes that may affect their full participation, as well as to discuss academic adjustments that might enable students to overcome those barriers.
Once the needed auxiliary aids and services have been identified, institutions cannot require students with disabilities to pay part or all of the costs of such aids and services, nor may institutions charge students with disabilities more for participating in programs or activities than they charge students who do not have disabilities.
Institutions generally may not condition their provision of academic adjustments on the availability of funds, refuse to spend more than a certain amount to provide academic adjustments, or refuse to provide academic adjustments because they believe other providers of such services exist.17
In many cases, institutions may meet their obligation to provide auxiliary aids and services by assisting students in either obtaining them or obtaining reimbursement for their cost from an outside agency or organization, such as a state VR agency. Such assistance notwithstanding, institutions retain ultimate responsibility for providing necessary auxiliary aids and services and for any costs associated with providing such aids and services or utilizing outside sources. However, as noted above, if the institution can demonstrate that providing a specific auxiliary aid or service would result in undue financial or administrative burdens, considering the institution’s resources as a whole, it can opt to provide another effective one.
Understand their disabilities. Students with disabilities need to know the functional limitations that result from their disabilities and understand their strengths and weaknesses. They should be able to explain their disabilities to an institution’s disability coordinators or other appropriate staff. As part of this process, students should be able to explain where they have had difficulty in the past, as well as what has helped them overcome such problems and what specific adjustments might work in specific situations.
To assist students in this area, high school educators can encourage high school students to be active participants in their IEP or Section 504 meetings. High school personnel also can suggest that students practice explaining their disabilities, as well as why they need certain services, to appropriate secondary staff or through role-playing exercises to prepare them to engage in such conversations with confidence in a postsecondary setting.
Accept responsibility for their own success. All students, including those with disabilities, must take primary responsibility for their success or failure in postsecondary education. Students with disabilities, in particular, are moving from a system where parents and school staff usually advocated on their behalf to a system where they will be expected to advocate for themselves. An institution’s staff will likely communicate directly with students when issues arise and are generally not required to interact with students’ parents.
In general, students with disabilities should expect to complete all course requirements, such as assignments and examinations. Students with disabilities need to identify the essential academic and technical standards that they will be required to meet for admission and continued participation in an institution’s program. Students also need to identify any academic adjustments they may need as a result of their disabilities to meet those standards and how to request those adjustments. Students with disabilities need to understand that, while federal disability laws guarantee them an equal opportunity to participate these laws do not guarantee that students will achieve a particular outcome, for example, good grades.
Research postsecondary education programs. Students with disabilities may select any program for which they are qualified but should be advised to review carefully documentation standards and program requirements for their program or institution of interest.
For example, students should pay close attention to an institution’s program requirements, such as language or math, to avoid making a large financial and time commitment only to realize several years into a program that they cannot, even with academic adjustments, meet an essential requirement for program completion. Campus visits, which include visits to the disability services office, can be helpful in locating an environment that best meets a student’s interests and needs. In addition, while all institutions have a legal obligation to provide appropriate services, certain colleges may be able to provide better services than others due to their size or location.
If you would like more information about the responsibilities of postsecondary schools to students with disabilities, read the OCR brochures Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities: Higher Education’s Obligations Under Section 504 and Title II of the ADA and Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities. You may obtain copies of these brochures by contacting us at the address and phone numbers below or on the Department’s website at:http://www.ed.gov/ocr/publications.html#Section504.
Get information about the civil rights of students with disabilities in education institutions, contact:
Customer Service Team. Office for Civil Rights. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC 20202
Phone: 1-800-421-3481. TTY: 1-877-521-2172. E-mail: ocr@ed.gov. Web: http://www.ed.gov/ocr
This publication is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. The publication’s citation should be: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Transition of Students With Disabilities to Postsecondary Education: A Guide for High School Educators, Washington, D.C., 2011.
Or call in your request toll-free: 1-877-433-7827 (1-877-4-ED-PUBS)
(TDD) or a teletypewriter (TTY), call 1-877-576-7734, or call 1-800-872-5327 (1-800-USA-LEARN).
Order online at http://edpubs.gov. Download @ http://www.ed.gov/ocr/transitionguide.html.
Any updates to this publication will be available on this website.
On request, this publication can be made available in alternate formats, such as Braille, large print or computer diskette. For more information, contact the Department’s Alternate Format Center at 202-260-0852 or 202-260-0818. If you use a TDD, call 1-800-877-8339.
1 The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (Amendments Act), P.L. 110-325, amended the ADA and Section 7 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which contains the disability definition for Section 504. The Amendments Act became effective on January 1, 2009. The Amendments Act affected the meaning of the term “disability” in the ADA and Section 504, most notably by requiring that “disability” under these statutes be interpreted broadly. More information about the Amendments Act is available from OCR’s website athttp://www.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/disability.html andhttp://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html.
2 The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) administers the IDEA. You can find additional information about the IDEAat http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep, or by contacting OSEP at:
Telephone: 202-245-7459
3 OSERS’ Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) administers a formula grant program that funds state VR agencies to provide eligible individuals with disabilities with employment-related services, including services to facilitate transition. Additional information about this grant program is available athttp://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/rsa/index.html or by contacting RSA at:
Telephone: 202-245-7488
4 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.42(b) (2010); and 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(8) (2010).
5 See 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7) and 28 C.F.R. § 35.164.
6 The term “accommodations” is also referenced under the IDEA and used by the major publishers of college entrance exams. The term generally refers to changes in the standardized testing conditions provided to a student with disabilities that will not impact the validity of the student’s test scores.
7 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.42(b)-(c).
8 In this document, consistent with the Section 504 regulations at 34 C.F.R. § 104.44, we generally use the term “academic adjustments” to refer to modifications to nonessential academic requirements, reasonable changes to policies, procedures and practices, and the provision of auxiliary aids and services necessary for individuals with disabilities to participate in, and benefit from, the postsecondary education program. These terms are further explained in the section of this guide titled “Post-Admission: Documentation of a Disability.” It should be noted that the term “reasonable accommodations,” commonly used in the employment context, also may be familiar to postsecondary school personnel.
9 See 34 C.F.R. §§ 104.4 and 104.42; and 28 C.F.R. § 35.130.
10 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.3(l)(3); and 28 C.F.R. § 35.104.
11 Although the term “handicap” is used in the Section 504 regulation, consistent with contemporary usage, this guidance uses the term “disability.”
12 Regulations implementing Section 504 and Title II of the ADA contain non-exhaustive lists of major life activities. See 34 C.F.R. § 104.3(j)(2)(ii) (2010) and 28 C.F.R. § 35.104 (2009). The Amendments Act included additional examples of general activities and “major bodily functions” that are major life activities. See 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2).
13 See 34 C.F.R. § 300.305(e)(3) (2010).
14 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.3; and 28 C.F.R. § 35.104.
15 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.44(a).
16 See 28 C.F.R. § 35.164.
17 See 34 C.F.R. § 104.4; and 28 C.F.R. § 35.130.