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ISSUE: Type of Statute

I.D.E.A.: Provides funding to states to ensure provision of Free Appropriate Public Education for children with disabilities
§504/A.D.A.: Civil Rights statute protecting persons with disabilities from discrimination

ISSUE: Main Provisions

I.D.E.A.: Establishes procedural safeguards & the right to free appropriate public education in the Least Restrictive Environment
§504/A.D.A.: Because of disability, a qualified person can't be:
• excluded from participation in,
• denied the benefits of, or
• be subjected to discrimination by any service, program or activity of a postsecondary institution

ISSUE: Who is Protected

I.D.E.A.: Children falling into the 13 categories listed in the IDEA and requiring special educational services to benefit from an education
§504/A.D.A.: Any person with a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity, e.g., walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning , etc.; OR has a record of such an impairment; OR is perceived of as having such an impairment

ISSUE: Extent of obligation

I.D.E.A.: Free Appropriate Public Education ensuring a meaningful benefit from education
§504/A.D.A.: Equivalent access to educational and extracurricular programs

ISSUE: Delivery Method

I.D.E.A.: Individualized Education Plan
§504/A.D.A.: No formal plan, worked out on case-by-case basis with the institution's Disabled Student Services office

ISSUE: Enforcement

I.D.E.A.: Due Process: (1) impartial hearing; (2) State review (appeal); then (3) Federal Court
§504/A.D.A.: Internal grievance procedures OR complaint to Office for Civil Rights (OCR of U.S. Dept. of Education) OR go directly to federal court

ISSUE: Funding

I.D.E.A.: Federal funds to states to support special education programs
§504/A.D.A.: No funding attached; costs are incurred by the institutions or some other funding source; for example, Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) or Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped

ISSUE: Remedies

I.D.E.A.: Special Education services, Attorney's Fees & Costs
§504/A.D.A.: Reasonable Accommodations, Attorney's Fees & Costs, Compensatory Damages

ISSUE: Services Available

I.D.E.A.: Supplemental Aids & Services:
• Occupational Therapy
  
• Speech & Language Therapy
  
• Notetakers
  
• Counseling
  
• Tutoring
  
• Resource Room
  
• Paraprofessional Aides
  
• Testing modifications
  
• Adaptive equipment

§504/A.D.A.: Reasonable Accommodations & Academic Adjustments:

• Interpreters
  
• Notetakers
  
• Testing Modifications
  
• Priority registration
  
• Real Time Reporting

ISSUE: Who Pays for What?

I.D.E.A.: School district is responsible for providing all services, etc., necessary to a free appropriate public education; often can be required to purchase adaptive equipment; testing to determine eligibility for special education services
§504/A.D.A.: School pays for reasonable accommodations and academic adjustments, but not for

• special tutoring
  
• counseling
  
• personal attendant care
  
• hearing aids, glasses
  
• testing for disability
  BUT college may have to alter buildings to remove physical barriers (Program Access)

ISSUE: Grievance

I.D.E.A.: Administrative due process procedures as outlined in state education law
§504/A.D.A.: Internal grievance (state schools have to have one) or OCR complaint or litigation (it is always best to try internal methods first)

ISSUE: Students' responsibility

I.D.E.A.: Do one's best
§504/A.D.A.: Disclose disability: provide documentation; facilitate the provision of reasonable accommodations; show up to class; use accommodations appropriately; speak up if trouble arises, no statutory mechanism requiring parental involvement and such involvement is discouraged in college

ISSUE: Caveats

I.D.E.A.: If it's not on the IEP, you won't get it
§504/A.D.A.: Accommodations must be reasonable. As circumstances warrant, accommodations may change over time. There is no "plan" to be set up and trial and error may be a necessary part of the process. Colleges are not required to "fundamentally alter" their programs or incur "undue hardship"