College Special Needs Accomdations?

Question

I dont understand why colleges believe that they are above the law when it comes to IDEA and ADA. My daughter recieved Special Education services in HS and has IEP. The college she goes to accepted her IEP, now they are saying that they dont have to follow her IEP.

. Even employers are by law required to make accomdations. Can some one explain this to me.

Answer 1

your mom goes to collage

Answer 2

There are no IEPs in college. They do have to make accommodations, but they do not have to follow the IEP.

The laws affecting college students with disabilities and the process of obtaining assistive technology in college are completely different from the K-12 world. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is not in effect in higher education. Colleges have no legal responsibility to identify students with disabilities or involve parents in decision making. Parents are often surprised to learn that there are no IEP’s in college.

Rather, in higher education the relevant law is a civil rights law – it protects people with disabilities from discrimination in admission to college and participation in college activities. The two federal laws that provide this protection are Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (originally passed in 1973, with subsequent reauthorizations), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (passed in 1990). The ADA states: "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall, solely by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity."

In other words, a disability cannot be grounds for excluding a person from a college, an academic program, a class, a residence hall, or a college activity, if the person is qualified.

Answer 3

Most of the other answers were good. As stated, your child is eligible for a 504 plan. In fact, I had one when I was in college.

My college was very accommodating and accepted my Welchler IQ test and the evaluation from the psychologist who did the testing. He had to write up the results in a certain way so that I would be eligible.

Most schools require testing for both aptitude and achievement because a difference between the two satisfies the legal definition for a learning disability. I was lucky because my school did not require the achievement testing; this is not the case for most schools.

I'm considering graduate school, and I had another Welchler taken last year to prepare. I may not seek accommodations, but if I do I will need the achievement testing mentioned earlier.

In my sources, I'm providing a link to the Drexel Office of Disability Services' page about documenting a learning disability. It has a lot of useful information. Different schools probably have different requirements, but it looks like their page would be a good place to start as far as determining what you need.

Unfortunately, the school will not pay for this testing, so it will have to come out of your own pocket as other people have mentioned, but it could be worth it.

Best of luck to you. I know how hard school can be with a learning disability and I hope your daughter gets the help she needs.

Answer 4

The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act is intended to support students between the ages of 3 and 21 in pre-k through high school graduation. When your child graduates from high school (s)he is no longer eligible for IDEA services, specifically, your child is not longer on an IEP.

Higher Education institutions have an office of disability services, or an ADA office that may provide limited accommodations to a student that was previously on an IEP, but these services are limited and not supported by Federal Funds (though they are federally supervised). The ADA accommodations vary by institution, but generally include testing accommodations and tutoring.

Answer 5

Those laws that protected her in high school do not apply to college.

To qualify in college, you need to follow their rules for eligibility.  This usually includes having testing done at your own expense if Vocational Rehabilitation will not pay for it.  Ask what she is lacking to qualify for services.  Sometimes it is a doctor's note other times it's just that colleges are not required to do all that public schools are.  Barring physical disabilities, most colleges only provide extended time for testing, testing in a separate room, seating at the front of the room.  Very few receive something else.

Shop around to different schools and see what they say.  Otherwise she will need to take college at a slower pace and seek out tutoring and study sessions to provide additional help.