Resources for Parents
Parents and family members can be an essential part of a student’s successful college plan. The first thing they can do is help students learn about the College’s available support services. While this begins with the Center for Accessibility Resources, it also reaches to valuable resources in health and counseling services, academic departments, residence life, and peer tutoring. In addition, families can encourage students to:
- Assemble a file of legible copies of all relevant documentation of disability
- Become familiar with the assessment results, appropriate documentation, and individual learning style
- Articulate the impact of one’s disability and necessary accommodations
- Perform personal tasks independently (i.e. showering, dressing, grooming, doing laundry, cleaning)
- Manage a checking account, use an ATM card, and budget money
- Manage time responsibly (i.e. respond to an alarm clock, plan a daily schedule, use an agenda/calendar)
- Make and keep appointments, adhere to course schedule, return phone calls and messages
- Designate sufficient daily study routines and planning for long-range assignments
- Take medications independently and on schedule
- Work with others to resolve conflicts
- Respect others’ belongings and personal space
- Avoid interrupting others’ sleep
- Utilize study strategies (i.e. note-taking, textbook reading, exam preparation)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), and the ADA Amendments Act (2008) apply to students in post-secondary education. This legislation is very different from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), covering primary and secondary education, grades K–12. This means that some adjustment of the perspectives of students and parents is necessary with making the transition from high school to college.
| Post-secondary Education | K-12 Education |
|---|---|
| Section 504/ADA/ADA Amendments
CIVIL RIGHTS LAW – GUARANTEES ACCESS |
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
LAW of ENTITLEMENT – GUARANTEES SUCCESS |
| Students compete for admission and must be “otherwise qualified” to enter college, without consideration of the disability. Students participate in the general curriculum of the college; no continuum of placement exists. | Every child is entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the “least restrictive environment” possible. |
| The student is responsible for disclosing the disability to the Center for Accessibility Resources staff and for discussing approved accommodations with their instructors (professors). There are no team meetings, service plans, or IEPs in post-secondary education. | Yearly meetings of special and general education teachers plus auxiliary service personnel are held to discuss student progress and set goals. |
| Instructors (professors) do not fundamentally alter the content or goals of their courses. Students are responsible for fulfilling all requirements of the course. | Significant modification may be involved with curriculum and assessments (student may be required to learn only part of a unit, take shortened tests, exempt from certain assignment). |
| Instructors (professors) receive an Accommodation Letter for eligible students but are not given access to any specific diagnostic data or disability documentation. | Classroom teachers receive a copy of the IEP and should have a thorough understanding of the disability and the goals of the education plan. |
| Students with disabilities are graded by the same standards as other students, regardless of the means through which their responses are provided (ex. use of a reader or scribe). | Special education and general education teachers follow an IEP or service plan which may include the student achieving alternate achievement standards and being assessed differently. |