Question

Should students with learning disabilities be entitled to academic accommodations? If so, what accommodations should students with learning disabilities have right to? Should such accommodations be made at all levels of education (i.e., elementary school, secondary school, college and university)? Would granting accommodations to students with learning disabilities be unfair to students without learning disabilities?

Answer 1

Children with learning disabilities who receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA) in public elementary and secondary school may continue to have legal rights under federal laws in college programs and in employment. When students graduate from high school or reach age 21, their rights under the IDEA come to an end.

The rights that may continue are those under the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). To understand which rights continue, it is important to understand the three basic federal statutes that confer rights on people with disabilities.

The IDEA, initially enacted in 1975, provides for special education and related services for children with disabilities who need such education and services by reason of their disabilities. The IDEA provides for a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and for an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

The Rehabilitation Act, most notably Section 504, prohibits discrimination against children and adults with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act applies to public and private elementary and secondary schools and colleges that receive federal funding. It also applies to employers that receive federal funding.

The ADA prohibits discrimination against children and adults with disabilities and applies to all public and most private schools and colleges, to testing entities, and to licensing authorities, regardless of federal funding. Religiously controlled educational institutions are exempt from coverage. The ADA applies to private employers with 15 or more employees and to state and local governments.

This is a particularly difficult problem when dealing with learning disabilities. Since learning disabilities affect cognitive areas of functioning they are often referred to as "invisible disabilities". Reasonable accommodations don't include the need for a ramp for a wheelchair or an interpreter for a deaf student. When working with students with learning disabilities, the accommodations will often involve academic adjustments in faculty teaching and/or how they evaluate the learning in the course. Reasonable accommodations may include the following: providing a notetaker for class lectures, allowing a tape recorder in lectures, extended time for tests and assignments, use of spell-check or grammar check, tests in alternate formats including oral rather than a written exam.