Legal+Issues

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is very important for people with disabilities. It is very similar to that of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which applied to racial discrimination and discrimination in education on the basis of gender. Section 504 reflects the realization that those with disabilities had been subjected to discrimination for many years. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 is an amendment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997. It is known as I-D-E-A, 2004. It maintains the right of all children with disabilities to a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. The //Rehabilitation Act 508// indicates that Federal Departments and Agencies are required to ensure electronic and information technology allows access by Federal employees with disabilities, as well as members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal department or agency. IDEA 2004 is closely aligned with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and maintains high accountability standards for states in educating students with disabilities. Some changes have been made to IDEA 2004 since IDEA 1997. For example, IDEA 2004 maintains the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for every student enrolled in special education, and requires the development of annual goals. However, short term instructional objectives now do not need to be written except for those students who participate in alternate assessments. Other changes to the IEP process involve a section of the law which states that the transition process must be in place at age 16, a section which allows certain IEP team members to be excused from meetings if their area will not be discussed, and a pilot program which would allow authorized states to complete multi-year, rather than annual IEPs, for students whose parents consent.

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm Americans with Disabilities Act. This homepage explains this act and how it has proven to make a difference in the lives of those with disabilities. This is a law without funding.

http://www.doe.state.de.us/programs/specialed/ This page is the Delaware Dept. of Ed. It has all the Delaware state laws and regulations as well as many resource links for other legal mandates.

The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) defines the provisions of IDEA 2004, which mandates that textbooks and other printed materials come in formats that are accessible to persons who are blind and print disabled. Find more info on NIMAS and NIMAC ( National Materials Access Center) at [|www.afb.org/nimas.asp] In addition to IDEA provisions, the 1996 Chafee Amendment was made to the US copyrights. This amendement gives authorized people the right to digitize otherwise proprietary materials for individuals that have disabilities which hinder their access to the printed text.(Hall,T.,Strangman, N, Meyer, A. 2003).

http://www.nls.org/conf2003/court-decisions-update.htm list of federal and state court cases about AT from 2001-2003.

http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/cfcc/pdffiles/027Kirshbaum.pdf Check out this PDF file. It address the concerns of Parents with Disabilities.

http://www.specialneedsalliance.com/about/ The Special Needs Alliance, or //SNA//, is a national network of lawyers dedicated to Disability and Public Benefits Law. Families rely on SNA as the best way to connect with the nearest lawyer in maintaining public benefits for their loved ones, as well as for estate planning to protect their life savings. This is a wonderful website for families or individuals with special needs.

The Social Security Act Amendments of 1965 created Medicaid which is designed to provide medical assistance for certain individuals and families with low incomes and resources. The program is a jointly funded cooperative venture between the federal and state governments to ensure the provision of adequate medical care to eligible persons who are in need. As such, it is the largest program providing medical and health-related services to America's poorest citizens. In fact, over the past 30 years Medicaid has grown to become one of the largest programs in the federal budget and one of the largest components of every state budget. Medicaid can also be used to provide AT equipment if that device is identifiable as durable medical equipment (DME). As is the case with the term medically necessary, definitions of DME vary from state to state and program to program.

This website refers to the laws that the 56 states and teritories must abide by. This was mentioned by the visitor that we had in class. http://www.resna.org/taproject/index.html

This article is a quick reference to the guidlines relating AT to IDEA. http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/assistive_technology/24315

Print Access vs. Copyright Law: Sometimes schools will say that they are precluded from providing text alternatives to students with print disabilities because they are concerned with copyright law. However, according to IDEA, states are required to ensure that blind persons receive instructional materials in accessible formats in a timely manner. IDEA also amends a provision of the Federal Copyright law which provides an exception to the Copyright provisions. Assuming that all students with disabilities who need instructional materials in alternative formats meet this definition there would be no problem, because every student needing an alternate format would also fall within the expection under the Copyright Law.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/chartlegis/part2.html A helpful website of legislative elements in special ed.

WebAIM provides a great 508 checklist to see if what you have will pass or fail the 508 standards check it out at: http://www.webaim.org/standards/508/checklist.php

Try this link for advocacy resources http://www.makoa.org/legal.htm

Here is a link to the Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs, which contains information about key legislation issues regarding AT. http://www.ataporg.org/