Joyce: Case Study

Joyce, a graduate student with a GPA of 3.6, uses an electric wheeled mobility device. In an advisement session, her academic advisor asked Joyce if she had ever considered the possibility of a master's degree in special education. The advisor explained, "While you are here at the university, Joyce, I suppose we can make whatever adaptations are necessary to make the courses and clinics available to you on campus. However, none of the sites we use in off-campus school-based practicum are wheelchair accessible, and only a few have accessible lavatories for the staff. It may be difficult for you to move between the two or more schools as expected of an itinerant speech-language pathologist in the schools. Frankly, I think you will find the same problem when you are looking for a job in speech-language pathology in another setting. It might be difficult for you to work with small children. You would probably find it easier to work in a classroom with older children in special education such as high school children with learning disabilities or orthopedic impairments. Besides, having gotten this far yourself, I would think you would enjoy an opportunity to help other people like yourself."

Has the professor violated the provisions of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act?

Absolutely. The institution is responsible for providing Joyce the same choices for a practicum afforded to students without disabilities. The program must provide some practicum sites that are able to meet the accessibility needs of the students. In addition, the advisor provided guidance to Joyce based on her disability, not on her ability to perform the function of the positions.

Craig: Case Study

Craig, an undergraduate student with a learning disability, is majoring in speech-language pathology. He has been in the program for the past seven years and has been on and off academic probation several times during his time at the university. Although he is very interested in speech and hearing science, he has had a good deal of difficulty making his way through the curriculum. He has a GPA of 1.67 in his major after 72 semester hours of classes. His overall GPA is 2.3, largely because of the success he has had in courses in history and social studies, which is his minor. In a meeting with his advisor, the professor asked him if he had considered changing his major to history. The professor explained by saying, " I know you are interested in speech and language science, but the academic coursework required seems to be difficult for you. The department has a rule that in order to receive a degree in the program you must have a GPA of at least 2.0. You would need to take five more courses in speech and hearing science and get an A in each of them in order to reach the 2.0 necessary for graduation. Also, in the long run, you will need a GPA of at least 3.0 to move on to graduate school. On the other hand, you have done well in your history courses. You will only need to take five more courses and get a C in them in order to receive a degree in history."

Has Professor Jones violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA by giving this advice?

No. He gave his advice based on the student's past performance rather than based solely on his disability. The student has shown that he does poorly in courses in the basic sciences and does well in courses in the social sciences. The advice given to him was appropriate.

Lori: Case Study

Lori, a graduate student in communication sciences and disorders, has an undergraduate GPA of 3.6. She does well in her academic classes and in her clinic sessions. During discussions with her clinical supervisor, Lori can verbalize her understanding of the clients and the clinical strategies that are appropriate for them. However, Lori is late with her clinical reports. She makes grammatical and spelling errors in daily charting and in written reports. During a supervisory conference, Lori told the supervisor that she has a learning disability and requested accommodations to allow her to meet the requirements of the program. She said that in her undergraduate program she received extended time on her tests, including the GRE, and was able to use a note-taker in classes and use a computer with a spell-checker for her written assignments. Since she is required to write clinical notes daily in her practicum, she has not been able to use the necessary accommodations. She asked if she could have additional time to prepare her chart notes and her reports. Her supervisor appreciated her candor, but told her that she would not be able to complete the practicum because of her poor writing ability and the lateness of her reports. She was asked to withdraw from the program or be asked to leave by the faculty committee.

Did Lori's supervisor violate the requirements of the ADA?

Yes. The supervisor should have investigated whether there was a reasonable way for Lori to meet the requirements of the program. Lori could have been allowed to dictate her reports for the daily reports and later have them transcribed using a software package such as Dragon Dictate. Since Lori had a documented disability, her needs should have been discussed prior to the assignment in the clinic so that the reasonable adaptations could have been made when she began the practicum.

Percent of First-Year College Students Reporting Disabilities

Source: HEATH Resource Center. (1999). American Council of Education. Based on unpublished data from the cooperative Institutional Research Program, UCLA selected years, College Freshmen with Disabilities: A Biennial Statistical Profile. American Council of Education, Washington DC (1999, p. 3).

Types of Disabilities Reported by Undergraduates Who Reported Having A Disability, 1995-1996

Source: U. S. Department of Education. National Center for Educational Statistics. (1999). Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: A profile of preparation, participation and outcomes. NCES-1999-187. Washington, DC.

Types of Disabilities Among Full-Time College Freshmen With Disabilities by Percentage

Source: HEATH Resource Center, American Council on Education. Based on unpublished data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, UCLA.

1. All academic programs should have a clear statement of admission policies that do not discriminate on the basis of a stated disability. For example, requiring a certain level of hearing or standard for oral communication may be discriminatory. In addition, all admissions materials (including forms, course catalogs, Web pages, and brochures) should be available in formats (such as large print or Braille upon request) that are accessible to students with disabilities.
   
   
2. Programs should have a statement on essential requirements or standards for degree completion and for each course in the program. The requirements should not discriminate solely on the basis of a disability. For example, a program cannot require effective oral communication because this would discriminate against those who are effective communicators by other means. It can require effective communication.
   
   
3. The program does not have to reduce or lower its department or program standards to accommodate the needs of a person with a disability. However, the standards must be able to be justified as essential to the purpose of the program.
   
   
4. The program cannot require that a student declare himself or herself as a student with a disability. Nor does the program have the right to know the nature of the disability. The faculty need only be assured that the appropriate documentation to support eligibility as a student with a disability has been approved by the administration and that the accommodations suggested do not result in a fundamental alteration in the program.
   
   
5. The IEP from secondary school may not be appropriate in higher education. Accommodations that were provided in secondary school may be viewed as substantially altering aspects of the postsecondary curriculum, and are therefore not reasonable. As part of secondary school transition planning under IDEA, a psychological examination in the senior or junior year should specify the functional limitations of the student in major life activities as well as recommendations for accommodation in postsecondary school.
   
   
6. Evaluation of speech-language or hearing impairment for persons seeking accommodations under the ADA should specify the functional limitations and the amount of the limitations to satisfy the requirement for eligibility stipulating that the person must have a disability that substantially limits one of more of the major life activities.
   
   
7. Some if not all practicum sites should be accessible to persons with disabilities. The variety of sites should provide the same options and types of choices for students with disabilities as for those without disabilities.
   
   
8. Students taking Web-based or distance education classes need to know the process for obtaining accommodations. The program provided over the Internet, including all assigned materials, must be accessible to students with disabilities.
   
   
9. The principles of universal design in instruction help accommodate the needs of students with disabilities while improving instruction for all.
   
   
10. Web pages must be accessible to students with disabilities. Visit www.w3.org/WAI or www.cast.org/bobby for complete guidelines and checklist.

1. The ADA is an extension of the Civil Rights Act of 1965. Since the ADA is essentially an anti-discrimination act, the Office of Civil Rights investigates complaints.
   
   
2. To be protected by the ADA the individual must have a disability relative to the general population. In some cases the courts have ruled that a person can be considered to have a disability because that individual is substantially limited in the ability to perform a major life function in relation to those of similar education and training. In Bartlett v. New York State Board of Law Examiners (2F Supp.2d 388 S.D. N.Y.1997), Marilyn Bartlett, a 49-year-old woman with a cognitive disorder that impairs her ability to read, earned a PhD in educational administration from New York University, a law degree from Vermont Law School, and had met all of the prerequisites to sit for the New York Bar Examination. Because of her substantial learning disability she sought accommodation while taking the bar exam. The courts initially ruled that she did not have a disability because she was able to function better than the average person. After several years of litigation it was decided that she did have a disability because she required considerably more time to process information than persons with the same education and training, that is, other students who have completed the necessary training to take the bar examination. Her success in other venues was attributed to her own ability to mitigate her disability by using more time to complete assignments and prior examinations.
   
   
3. The process of qualifying an individual as disabled under the ADA requires current, detailed, and professional documentation. Institutions are required to provide accommodations only to those individuals who meet the essential functions of the educational program. Accommodations need only address the interactions between functional impairments and task demands.
   
   

Not all students who were eligible for special education services in elementary and secondary school are eligible for consideration for services in post-secondary education. There are several differences between IDEA and the ADA.

• Under IDEA students are eligible for services if they meet one of more of the categories defining a disability.
  
  Under the ADA the qualification for identification as a person with a disability is based in "substantial impairment in a major life activity, such as but not limited to walking, speaking, learning."
  
  
  
• Under IDEA the local educational agency teachers and school specialists are responsible for proactively identifying the children who have disabilities.
  
  Under the ADA students are responsible for notifying the appropriate persons at the university that they have a disability and are in need of academic adjustments and accommodations.
  
  
• Under IDEA the school district is responsible for all testing necessary to determine whether the student has a disability.
  
  Under the ADA students are responsible for providing the documentation necessary to support their functional limitation and need for accommodation. Because the ADA requires a definition of the functional limitations of the student for a particular task or educational program, the IEP that was prepared in secondary school is usually not acceptable for this purpose. The documentation must be relatively recent, particularly for those impairments that could change over time, such as emotional impairment. Most programs require documentation to be within three years of entering the institution. Schools can assist students who are preparing for entry into college by providing a psychological examination and report that meets the requirements of the ADA as a part of the transition planning as the student prepares to leave high school. Many college students do not have medical insurance to support the necessary testing. They may be living out of the area covered by their HMO and therefore not have access to coverage for the necessary testing.
  
  
• Under IDEA schools are required to provide the necessary special education and related services to enable the child to learn.
  
  Under the ADA the institution is responsible only for providing access to the programs and services provided for students without disabilities. They are not required to provide reduced class size, transportation, remedial services, or therapeutic services. For example, the institution is required to provide physical access to buildings. They are not required to provide physical therapy or a personal aide to provide assistance to the student. If such services are required, the student is responsible for providing them.
  
  
• Under IDEA schools may alter the nature of the education program to meet the needs of the student and the individual potential of the student.
  
  Under the ADA the institution is not required to reduce or alter its standards to accommodate the needs of the student. For example, a student at Tufts University Medical School (Wynne v. Tufts University School of Medicine, 932 F2nd 791 1st cir 1992) wanted an accommodation because of his learning disability. He reported that he had difficulty taking multiple-choice examinations. He requested that he be allowed to take his qualifying examinations in essay form. The school denied the requested accommodation stating that the rapid decision-making to discrete choices or alternatives was an important and essential function of being a physician. Altering the test would be changing the essential function of the examination. The courts ruled for the institution. A similar case involved a group of students with learning disability at Boston University (Guckenberger v. Boston University 974 F Supp.106, 154-55 D Mass 1997). They requested that they not be required to take a foreign language that was required for all students in the bachelor's program. Boston University argued that the ability to use and understand a language other than English was an essential component of the university's liberal arts program. The students were required to complete the language requirement.
  
  
• Under IDEA an IEP is developed for each student to define the special education and related services that will be provided to the child.
  
  Under the ADA there are no IEPs. The student is responsible for meeting the essential standards of the educational program with or without reasonable accommodations. The institution is not required to provide special education or academic tutoring. The institution is required to make all programs and services accessible to the student, including residence halls and recreational facilities. However, they are not required to change or lower the standards for a program to accommodate the functional ability of the students. For example, if a student has a medical condition that limits the number of hours a day the student can be in a practicum setting, the program may extend the period of time that is usually used to complete the practicum. However, they are not required to reduce the number of practicum hours that student would need to complete in the setting, since to do so would lower the requirements for the program.

ADA Compliance Guide. Thompson Publishing Group, 1725 K St. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006.

Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42. U. S. C. §12102 et seq (1998).

Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). P.O. Box 540666, Waltham, MA 02454; www.ahead.org. A membership organization that addresses the needs and concerns of service providers for upgrading the quality of services available to persons with disabilities in higher education.

Disability Compliance for Higher Education: Successful Strategies for Accommodating Students and Staff With Disabilities. LRP Publications, 747 Dresher Road, P.O. Box 980, Horsham, PA 19044-0980. Monthly newsletter.

Gordon, M., & Keiser, S. (Eds.) (1998). Accommodations in Higher Education under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Dewitt, NY: GSI Publications.

HEATH Resource Center, 2134 G St., NW, Washington, DC 20052. www.heath.gwu.edu. A national clearinghouse of information concerning the post-secondary education of students with disabilities.

Heath Resource Center. (1999). Profile of 1998 college freshmen with disabilities. Washington, DC: American Council of Education.

Individuals With Disabilities Act. (1990). 20 U. S. C. § 1400 et seq.

U.S. Department of Education Model Demonstration Projects to Ensure That Students With Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher Education.
(www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/2002report/edlite-demoprojects.html)