Assistive Technology and Transition from School to College Programs
ICAN AT4ALL is concerned that all students with disabilities get the best education possible whether they are in early childhood, elementary school, high school or college. Assistive technology (AT) devices and services can play a big role in giving students the best educational experience possible. That's why we have provided information on early childhood, special education, and both transition from school to work and from school to college programs on our website.
This page focuses on important information, assistive technology, and resources that can help when students are making the transition from high school to college level programs--universities, technical schools, community colleges, and other types of educational opportunities that are available to people who have graduated from high school. To find out more about early childhood, special education and transition to work, just click on the topics 0or on the buttons in the upper left hand corner of the page.
On this page you will find answers to important questions about the differences between high school and college-level programs, especially the differences in the rights and responsibilities of students and the educational facilities.
Things You Should Know
Q: How are college-level educational programs different than public school programs for students with disabilities?
A: Public schools are primarily regulated through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For children in early childhood and elementary through high school, schools must provide all children with disabilities the services and supports they need to benefit from education--that's what special education is all about. The schools have the responsibility to identify children with disabilities, to find out what services and supports that the student needs to benefit from education, and to provide those services and supports throughout the school years.
When a student goes into a college-level program, the IDEA does not apply. Instead, college programs fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. Both of these laws prohibit the school from discriminating against "qualified individuals with disabilities." The schools also must provided reasonable accommodations to a 'qualified individual with a disability' to allow that student an equal chance to succeed as other students enjoy.
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Q: How do I know if I am a qualified individual with disabilities?
A: Under Section 504 and the ADA, a person must be both 'qualified' for the college program and have a disability that meets the legal definition.
To be 'qualified' to attend the college program, a student must meet all of the same or comparable criteria that a person without disabilities must meet to be admitted to the college or to follow a particular area of study. If an applicant has a disability wants to go to law school, but does not meet the qualifications to be admitted to law school, he is not 'qualified' to attend.
These laws also define disability differently than special education law. To be covered under these laws, a person must have a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits a major life activity, such as seeing, hearing, speaking, performing manual tasks, sleeping, breathing, walking, caring for oneself, learning, thinking, interacting with others, and working. This means that if a person has a disability that does not significantly limit a major life activity, she would not be a person with a disability under the law.
For example, if a person has a visual impairment that is completely corrected with glasses and they are not significantly limited in any major activity, having a vision problem would not be considered a disability. If the person had vision impairment so significant that even with correction it still significantly limited him in a major life area, that person would meet the definition of a disability.
For more information about who is and is not covered under Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), click on the highlighted words or visit the websites listed in the Resource section below.
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Q: What are the responsibilities of students in a college setting?
A: The student with a disability has the primary responsibility for identifying and documenting her disability and requesting specific supports, services, and other accommodations to meet her needs. Notification can be made to any school official--the school's Office for Students with Disabilities, a Section 504 or ADA Coordinator, a Dean or counselor, or a teacher. Once this request is made, the school has a responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations at no charge to the student. But the student also has a responsibility to be an effective an advocate and follow-up with efforts.
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Q: What are the responsibilities of teachers and college officials?
A: Once the student has notified a college official (teacher, counselor, Dean, Office of Disability Coordinator, 504/ADA Coordinator, etc.) that she has a disability and requires accommodations, it is the educational program's responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations. Accommodations may include assistive technology, modifications of procedures, class locations, teaching methodology, lesson plans, assignments, or other types of adjustments. While the college program must accommodate students with disabilities with appropriate assistive technology devices or other accommodations, once the accommodations are provided, teachers are not required to lower academic standards by giving passing grades to students or otherwise altering the grading scale.
Students have a right to privacy in disability matters and teachers are obligated to maintain such information in confidence. A student's disability and necessary accommodations should not be discussed in the presence of other students or coworkers.
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Q: What is a reasonable accommodation?
A: A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment that is made to a school policy, program, support or service to assure the student with a disability is able to participate fully. The concept of reasonable accommodations extends beyond the classroom to all types of procedures and activities, such as admissions, vocational education, housing, physical education, counseling, transportation, health insurance, and financial aid.
Reasonable accommodations may not be unduly costly, disruptive for the school, or for the student's peronal use only. The student has the right to refuse a particular accommodation. Listed below are some examples of reasonable accommodations: - Allowing additional time to complete exams.
- Providing examinations in an alternate format.
- Reassigning a class to an accessible facility.
- Allowing substitutions for certain required or prerequisite courses.
- Providing an interpreter during lectures.
- Providing assisitive technology, like notetakers, readers, talking calculators, Braille calculators, Closed caption decoding, specialized gym equipment, assistive listening devices and other technology.
For more about reasonable accommodations, click on the words or review the list of resources below.
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Q: What can I do if the educational facility won't provide accommodations or make programs accessible? A: First, be proactive. Students have the primary responsibility for getting the accommodations they need. Following these steps will help to assure you are successful in your efforts to get the accommodations you need
- Notify the school in writing about your disability and the need for accommodations, even if you already did it once.
- Suggest alternative accommodations that might work best for you.
- Schedule and attend meetings with school officials.
- Keep track of the names of school officials with you you talk and not the time and date.
- Keep a record of all documents regarding your notice and requests and the school's responses.
- If the college program refuses to provide accommodations or to make programs accessible, try to resolve the issue internally, if possible, by talking to someone in the Office of Disability, or to a Dean or another administrator.
- If that doesn't work, file an internal grievance or complaint with the school.
- File a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U. S. Department of Education--http://
www.ed.gov/print/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/howto.htm.- File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)--http://www.ada.gov/enforce.htm#anchor218282.
- Try to resolve things informally, by negotiating directly with the college or through a mediator.
- If all else fails, you can file a lawsuit for violations of the ADA and Section 504 in federal or state court.
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Q: What can ICAN AT4ALL do to help?
A: ICAN can help in the transition from school to college in several ways. - Schools and colleges can contract with ICAN to have our staff provide assistive technology evaluations or visit to see how to improve accessibility of educational facilities.
- Look through the At Home, At School, At Work and In Community pages to see all kinds of assistive technology that might be helpful to you in school and when you go to college.
- Visit our Clearinghouse to see a variety of AT that might be helpful to school and college students.
- Ask us to demonstrate a particular type of device or variety of devices.
- Borrow a device to see if it works for you before purchasing it.
- Check to see if we have a recycled device that would work for you.
- Contact us for referrals to helpful resources.
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Assistive Technology that Can Help in Transition to College Programs? In what area are you needing help? Resources Specific to Transition to College Programs
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)--The Americans with Disabilities Act protects children and adults with disabilities against discrimination based on disability in many areas, including education.
ADA Homepage for the federal government. http://www.ada.gov/
Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act--Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act requires programs and facilities supported by federal funding to be accessible to people with disabilities. Section 504 protections are available to all children with disabilities but they are particularly important for children who need accessible school facilities and programs but are not eligible for special education services.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, Section 504 Info http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/edlite-FAPE504.html
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as Amended in 2004--Children with disabilities have the right to a free, appropriate public education. The primary federal law that lays out the rights of children with disabilities and their famillies and the responsibilities and rights of schools is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as amended in 2004. This law is comprehensive and very important for all children with disabilities.
U.S. Dept. of Education IDEA homepage http://idea.ed.gov/ InfoDisability.Gov is the government's website that addresses all types of issues affecting the lives of American's with disabilities, including education. http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/
Arkansas Disability Rights Center is a federally-funded protection and advocacy service to help Arkansans with disabilities with legal rights issues like education, employment, and assistive technology. DRC can assist individuals who are transitioning from school to post-secondary education and from school to work. Visit DRC's website at: http:www.arkdisabilityrights.org Arkansas Transition Services--http://arkansastransition.com/ Transition Counselors in Arkansas--http://arkansastransition.com/transition_consultants.php Arkansas Interagency Transition Partnership with Bonnie Boaz at 501-835-3330. Just contact them for more information. ICAN AT4ALL--provides device demonstrations, loans, recycled devices, training, information and referral, AT evaluations and more to help students with disabilities transition from school to college programs. Contact ICAN AT4ALL . United Cerebral Palsy of America has a wealth of information about special education and assistive technology. The following list of publications is available through the UCP website at http://www.ucp.org/ucp_channelsub.cfm/1/12/69
University and College Disability Services
Arkansas Association of Higher Education and Disability--http://www.arkahead.org/contactlist.htm The following university and college websites offer information to students with disabilities.
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