Terms Defined
Disability:
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects and considers a person disabled if he/she:
- Has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of that person.
- Has a record of such impairment
- Who, while not actually disabled, is regarded as having such an impairment
- Has a record of being discriminated against because of being regarded as having a person with a disability dependent on him/her (associated with a person who has a disability)
Substantial Impairment:
Rather than specifying particular disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act set the criteria for an individual's protections at the threshold of a "mental or physical impairment" that substantially limits any major life activity. It is this terminology that is a central aspect of the process of determining whether a person has a civil right to accommodations based on a disability.
Documentation:
Documents which verify a person's impairment and which adequately describe the impairment for the college to be able to determine the degree of limitation the student experiences on a major life activity to aid in the design of reasonable accommodations.
Accommodation:
The term accommodations includes the following circumstances:
- Adjustments made in course materials or instructional methodology which do not change the essential nature or academic and technical standards of the course
- Adjustments made to the physical attributes of a classroom such as provision of tables and/or chairs, which do not disrupt the essential activities of the class or program
- Assistive technology made available to persons with disabilities in an academic setting where this accommodation is required in order to provide equal access
Essential Nature of a Course:
This is language from applicable case law; ref. the Davis decision. Colleges need to identify the essential elements of each course requirement and curriculum program; elements that are identified as "essential" after a student with disabilities has challenged or raised a question about the element will not stand program review. Colleges are not required to waive or substitute essential elements of programs.
Reasonable:
Reasonable is a term central to disability services and the design of accommodations.
- Colleges must provide reasonable accommodations to assure reasonable access to persons with disabilities for all institutional programs and services
- A request for an accommodation which would waive an essential element of a course would be determined unreasonable. However, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has yet to accept financial burden or cost as a reason for not providing a reasonable accommodation
- A request for accommodation which would put the requesting student or others in danger would be considered an unreasonable accommodation
- A request to provide services such as a sign language interpreter, multi-media resource materials or extended time for testing would most likely be considered a reasonable accommodation request, if supported by verifying documentation