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Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. According to these laws, no otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of a public entity. They apply to educational programs at all levels.
The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) mandates that each state provide free and appropriate education for all children, regardless of abilities and disabilities. It requires that individual education plans (IEPs) be developed for students with disabilities who meet certain criteria. Other students with disabilities may have Section 504 plans.
Disabilities covered by legislation include (but are not limited to) low-vision, blindness, hearing impairments, learning disabilities, mobility impairments, and health impairments.
Teachers should be responsive to the pedagogical needs of all students. However, students with disabilities may have some unique educational needs. Although you may receive direction regarding academic adjustments and accommodations through IEP plans and Section 504 plans for specific students, it is good to be thinking about the broad range of abilities, disabilities, and other characteristics of potential students as you design our curriculum. This approach is called universal design of instruction (see http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/instruction.html.)
To help students with disabilities develop self advocacy skills that they will need to apply in college, careers, and other life activities, privately discuss with students their individual learning styles and needs. By the end of their high school years, students with disabilities should be the best source of information regarding the adaptive technology, alternate formats, assignment and test-taking adjustments, and other accommodations they need to succeed in postsecondary studies and employment. In these settings, it is the individual's responsibility to request reasonable accommodations. Precollege teachers can help a students become comfortable doing this.
Below you will find examples of teaching techniques in the classroom, laboratory, examinations, and field work that benefit all students, but are especially useful for students who have disabilities.
The videos, Working Together: Faculty and Students with Disabilities, Building the Team: Faculty, Staff, and Students Working Together, and Equal Access: Universal Design of Instruction may be freely viewed online at http://www.washington.edu/doit/Video/, or purchased in DVD format.
[Contact DO-IT at 206-685-3648 to have this brochure personalized with your school's resources.]
DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the successful participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs such as those in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. Primary funding for DO-IT is provided by the National Science Foundation, the State of Washington, and the U.S. Department of Education.
To order free publications or newsletters use the DO-IT Publications Order Form; to order videos and training materials use the Videos, Books and Comprehensive Training Materials Order Form.
For further information, to be placed on the DO-IT mailing list, or to request materials in an alternate format, contact:
DO-ITDirector: Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2001, University of Washington. Permission is granted to copy these materials for educational, noncommercial purposes provided the source is acknowledged.
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