ADA, IDEA and Section 504

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ADA, IDEA and Section 504
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Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Purpose A civil rights law to prohibit
  discrimination on the basis of disability in
  programs and activities, public and private, that
  receive federal financial assistance.

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Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Eligibility Any person who has
• A physical or mental impairment which
  substantially limits one or more major life
  activities
• A record of such an impairment
• Regarded as having such an impairment
• Major life activities include caring for oneself,
  performing manual tasks, walking, seeing,
  hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and
  working.

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Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
• Students can receive related services under
  Section 504 even if they are not provided any
  special education.
• Sec 504 requires provision of educational and
  related aids and services that are designed to
  meet the individual educational needs of the
  child.
• The IEP as a result of IDEA may be used to meet
  the Sec 504 requirement.

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Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• Child Find Schools are responsible for
  identifying and locating students with
  disabilities yearly.
• Evaluations Schools are required to establish
  standards and procedures for the evaluation and
  placement of students who need special education
  or related services.

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Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

• A common failing of school districts is to
  evaluate only those students who fall within the
  IDEIA categories.
• Section 504 definition of a disability is broader
  than the IDEIAs.

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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
International Symbol for Hearing Loss as adopted
by the ADA
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ADA

• Purpose A civil rights law to prohibit
  discrimination solely on the basis of disability
  in employment, public accommodations,
  transportation, telecommunications, and state and
  local government services.

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ADA

• Eligibility Any individual with a disability
  who has a physical or mental impairment that
  substantially limits one or more life activities
  or has a record of such an impairment or is
  regarded as having such an impairment.
• Further, the person must be qualified for the
  program, service or job.

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Titles

• Title I Employment
• Title II Public Services
• Title III Public Accommodations
• Title IV Telecommunications
• Title V Miscellaneous

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Title I Employment

• Prohibits an employer from discrimination against
  a qualified individual with a disability in
• Job application procedures
• Hiring
• Discharge
• Compensation
• Advancement
• Any other terms, conditions, and privileges of
  employment

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Title I Employment

• Employers must provide reasonable accommodations
• For deaf and hard of hearing people, these
  accommodations may mean the following
• Job Restructuring
• Reassignment
• Acquisition of equipment
• Modification of equipment

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Title II Public Services

• Requires all state and local government agencies
  to make all of their services accessible to
  individuals with disabilities.
• It also requires public transportation agencies
  to be accessible.

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Title II Public Services

• Important to deaf and hard of hearing people
  because it extends protection to many agencies
  that were not covered by Section 504 of the
  Rehabilitation Act of 1973 because they did not
  receive any federal funding.
• For example, Section 504 did not provide
  interpreter services in courts or police
  departments.

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Title III Public Accommodations

• Provides disabled people with the rights to equal
  access to public accommodations, which include
  facilities such as restaurants, hotels, grocery
  stores, retail stores, etc., as well as privately
  owned transportation systems.
• All new construction and modifications must be
  accessible to individuals with disabilities.

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Title III Public Accommodations

• Important for deaf and hard of hearing people in
  removing communication barriers.
• Requires auxiliary aids which can include
  interpreters, computer-aided transcription
  services, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive
  listening devices, assistive listening systems,
  open and closed captioning, telecommunication
  devices for deaf persons (TTY), or other
  effective methods.

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Assistive Listening Systems
FM Broadcast
Infrared Light
Induction Loop
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Title IV Telecommunications

• Telephone companies must provide local and long
  distance telecommunication relay services across
  the nation.
• TTY (teletypewriter) Telecommunications Device
  for the Deaf, which is a machine that employs
  graphic communication by wire or radio.
• Relay Service Uses a third party to interpret
  the written text to the receiving party and
  receive the spoken message and convert it to
  written text.

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TTY
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Title V Miscellaneous

• Includes a provision prohibiting either
• coercing or threatening the disabled or
• retaliating against the disabled or those
  attempting to aid people with disabilities in
  asserting their rights

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Individuals with Disabilities Education
Iprovement Act (IDEIA)

• Purpose To provide federal financial assistance
  to state and local education agencies to
  guarantee special education and related services
  to eligible children with disabilities.
• To protect the rights of children with
  disabilities and their parents or guardians.
• Formerly known as 94-142

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IDEIA

• Eligibility
• Children and youth aged 3-21
• Determined through an individualized evaluation
  to be eligible in one or more of 13 categories

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IDEIA

• Eligibility (Cont.)
• - autism
• - deaf-blindness
• - deafness
• - emotional disturbance
• - hearing impairment
• - mental retardation
• - multiple disabilities

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IDEIA

• Eligibility (Cont.)
• - orthopedic impairment
• - Other health impairment
• - specific learning disability
• - speech or language impairment
• - traumatic brain injury
• - visual impairment including blindness

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IDEIA

• Eligibility (Cont.)
• - Needs special education and/or related
  services
• - Children 3-9 experiencing developmental delays
• - Infants and toddlers from birth through age 2
  who may be eligible for early intervention
  services according to an Individualized Family
  Service Plan (IFSP)

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IDEIA

• Eligibility (Cont.)
• - The school district is responsible for
  identifying and evaluating students with
  disabilities
• - Evaluations are performed at no expense to the
  student or parents.
• - Must have parental consent to make evaluation
  and placement decisions.

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IDEIA

• Free, appropriate public education (FAPE)
• Special education and related services that are
  provided at no charge to parents.
• Meet other state educational standards
• Consistent with an individualized educational
  program (IEP).

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IDEIA

• Placement
• - Must be in the least restrictive environment.
• - May be in special classrooms, resource, or
  regular classroom.

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IDEA - 1997
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The End