|
High School |
College/University |
|
Under IDEA, children with
disabilities are absolutely entitled to a “Free and
Appropriate Public Education.” |
Equal access to education is
the order of the day – no one is entitled to anything, but
rather students have civil rights and they must advocate for
themselves in order to enjoy those rights. |
|
Section 504 in the public
schools includes “Free and Appropriate Public Education”
language, and accommodations may include a shortening of
assignments, or the use of notes on tests, when other
students cannot use them. |
Section 504 is the first civil
rights legislation that applied to colleges. It upholds the
institution’s right to maintain the academic standards, and
no accommodations may be permitted to reduce that standard
for any student. Thus there is no “free” education, and
shortening assignments and using notes when other students
do not are not considered “reasonable accommodations.” |
|
Plans, either the IEP or a 504
Plan, drove all services and accommodations, and involved
the teachers, counselors, and absolutely required a parent’s
signature. |
There is no plan, and
instructors are not contacted, except by the student. In
fact, parents may not receive even a student’s grades
without the student giving written permission. |
|
Everybody knows about a
student's placement, and practically everybody signs the
plan. Each teacher knows about a student even before he or
she enters the classroom, and has a good idea what the
student's will need. |
Disability Services never
contact an instructor without permission from the student.
So, the student must initiate all accommodations with each
instructor, for each course, every semester. Students have
the right to refuse accommodations they don’t need or want;
and if they do not request an accommodation it is assumed
they do not want it. |
|
Public schools, for the most
part, are responsible for appropriate assessment of a
student’s disability. |
Higher education does not have
to assess the student, but can expect that the student will
provide proof of their disability within accepted
guidelines. |
|
Some subjects may have been
waived for a student before graduation, if they were
specifically related to the student’s disability. |
Substitutions for specific
graduation requirements may be requested by following a
rigorous petition process, but “waivers” for requirements
are never granted. Substitutions are also granted typically
after the student has both provided adequate verification to
Disability Services of their disability and unsuccessfully
attempted the courses in question with the appropriate
accommodations recommended by Disability Services. |
|
Labels are a way to categorize
people. |
Student has a right to disclose
to whom and when they choose, but must own their disability
in order to enjoy a level playing field. |
|
Students often receive
“Un-timed tests” if they have a disability. |
“Un-timed tests” are not
reasonable, but time extensions may be reasonable, typically
time-and-a-half. |
|
Teachers may be expected to
learn all they can about the disability of a student in one
of their classes. |
Instructors need know only that
which applies to the accommodations the student requests. |
Site
Map
