Preparing for College
By Hillary D. Freeman, Esq.
The obligations of post-secondary institutions in special education are quite different from the local high schools.
School districts must provide a free appropriate public education to all of their students who have been identified as having a disability that impacts their ability to be educated. Parents should realize, however, that the Individualized Education Plan does not transfer to college and beyond.
While some rights and protections guaranteed by these laws terminate when a student with disabilities graduates high school, post-secondary institutions and higher education entrance testing services (ETS, GRE, LSAT) have certain obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the American's with Disabilities Act to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.
Students with disabilities are entitled to accommodations designed to "level the playing field." Post-secondary institutions and testing services must therefore provide appropriate accommodations to ensure they are not discriminating based on a student's disability. Accommodations may include extra time on tests, a reader, large print text, note takers and other supports. The individual student is responsible for making requests for these accommodations to appropriate offices within the institution, and securing them may require specialized legal representation.
Hinkle,
Fingles, & Prior maintains a multi-state law practice
with offices in Lawrenceville, Marlton, and Florham
Park, New Jersey, and Plymouth Meeting and Bala Cynwyd,
Pennsylvania. They lecture and write frequently on
topics of law, aging, disability and estate planning
and are available
to speak to groups in New Jersey
and Pennsylvania at no charge.
Comments
and suggestions for future articles should be mailed
to: Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law,
2651 Main Street, Suite A, Lawrenceville, New Jersey
08648-1012.
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2008 Hinkle, Fingles & Prior, Attorneys at Law. All rights reserved.
