- Home
- Disability Categories
- Autism
- Deaf-Blindness
- Deafness
- Emotional Behavioral Disorder
- Hearing Impairment or Deafness
- Cognitively Disabled
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech and Language Disability or Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment and Blindness
Legislation
Section 504 and ADA
- This memorandum addresses the obligations of a public school system under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Deaf or hard of hearing students, parents and others are entitled to equal access and an equal opportunity to participate in public school services, programs, and activities. The ADA and Section 504 apply to all programs and activities offered by a school system, including school board meetings, extracurricular programs, teacher conferences, recreational activities, social and cultural activities, adult education, summer school or hobby classes.
- Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794, requires programs which receive federal financial assistance to provide accommodations, such as qualified interpreters, real-time captioning (also called CART), assistive listening devices, or other auxiliary aids, to people with disabilities when necessary to ensure effective communication. See also 34 C.F.R. §§ 104.4 and 104.21. Public school systems receive substantial federal financial assistance, so this law applies to them.
- Title II of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, requires comparable access by all state and local government programs, regardless of whether or not the programs get federal financial assistance.
- The ADA Title II regulations specifically address the obligation of a school board or other public entity to remove communication barriers for deaf individuals:
(a) A public entity shall take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with applicants, participants, and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. (b)(1) A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by a public entity. (2) In determining what type of auxiliary aid and service is necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the requests of the individual with disabilities. - 28 C.F.R. § 35.160.
The regulations define "auxiliary aids and services" to include:
Qualified interpreters, note takers, transcription services, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, assistive listening systems, telephones compatible with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed captioning, telecommunications devices for deaf persons [TTYs], videotext displays, or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; . . . and . . . other similar services and actions.- 28 C.F.R. § 35.104.
- In order to make sure that deaf and hard of hearing individuals are alerted to a fire or other emergency, a school system should install visual (flashing) fire alarms. Other examples of accommodations for deaf and hard of hearing people include visible fire alarm systems, amplification systems that are compatible with hearing aids, entry systems that do not depend on ability to use an intercom or respond to a buzzer or other auditory device. A telecommunication device for deaf persons (TTY) and making and receiving calls through a relay service may also be necessary, so that the school and parent can communicate about illnesses, schedules, discipline of a child and other matters.
- The IDEA requires public school systems to provide a "free, appropriate public education" to children who need special education or related services because of a disability. The IDEA establishes a procedure for developing an individualized education program (IEP) and identifying needed support services for individual children. Although this is the principal law which determines the special educational services children will receive from a school system, Section 504 and the ADA provide additional protection, especially in the context of architectural accessibility, extracurricular activities, summer programs, and services for parents, members of the public, and other individuals with disabilities.
- Sec. 300.113(a)
Hearing aids. Each public agency must ensure that hearing aids worn in school by children with hearing impairments, including deafness, are functioning properly.Use of interpreters or other action, as appropriate. The public agency must take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the IEP Team meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English- Sec. 300.34(b) Exception; services that apply to children with surgically implanted devices, including cochlear implants.
- Sec. 300.34(b)(2) Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) of this section-- (i) Limits the right of a child with a surgically implanted device (e.g., cochlear implant) to receive related services (as listed in paragraph (a) of this section) that are determined by the IEP Team to be necessary for the child to receive FAPE.
- Sec. 300.34(b) Exception; services that apply to children with surgically implanted devices, including cochlear implants.
- Deaf and hard of hearing children’s ability to communicate is a priority.
- These bills stress the basic human need for a child to be able to communicate freely with others. The bills usually state that their purpose is to promote understanding of communication needs and not to favor any one particular communication mode or language over another.
- Availability of qualified and certified personnel who can communicate directly with deaf and hard of hearing children.
- In order for an educational placement to be appropriate, the child must be provided, when appropriate, qualified and certified teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, assessors, administrators, interpreters, and other personnel who understand the unique nature of deafness and are specifically trained to work with deaf and hard of hearing children. These personnel should be proficient in the primary communication and language mode of deaf and hard of hearing children.
- Deaf and hard of hearing children shall have an education with a sufficient number of same language mode peers who are of the same age and ability level.
- Deaf and hard of hearing children shall be provided opportunities to interact with deaf and hard of hearing adult role models.
- Parents and educators should be informed of the benefits of an education in which deaf and hard of hearing students have deaf and hard of hearing role models or adult mentors available as part of the student’s education experience in school and during extracurricular activities. Children should be provided access to deaf and hard of hearing adults as teachers, mentors, and advocates.
- Deaf and hard of hearing children must have direct and appropriate access to all components of the education, including recess, lunch, extracurricular, social, and athletic activities.
- Deaf and hard of hearing children shall be assessed appropriately.
- No deaf or hard of hearing child shall be denied the opportunity for instruction in a particular communication mode or language solely because of the child’s remaining hearing, the parents of the child are not fluent in the communication mode or language being taught, or the child has previous experience with some other communication mode or language. The child’s preferred mode should be respected in order to attain highest education possible for that individual in an appropriate environment.
- Teachers must demonstrate competency in American Sign Language (ASL) in addition to English language and communication competencies in order to obtain any certification required to teach deaf and hard of hearing students.
- Opportunities should be available for interactions that enhance the child’s intellectual, social, emotional and cultural development.
- An education should be provided in which the child’s unique communication mode (such as ASL) is respected, utilized, and developed to an appropriate level of proficiency and vocabulary equivalent to that of students of similar ages who are hearing.
- There should be provision of early educational intervention to provide for the acquisition of a natural language base whether it be ASL, Speech, Cued Speech, Sign Language, another method, or a combination of methods. There shall be a consistent communication system during the child’s early, critical language acquisition years.
- The child should have the right to have ASL as one of the academic subjects in his/her educational curriculum when the child’s primary language is ASL.
- Consider that the state school for the deaf may be the least restrictive environment for a deaf or hard of hearing child.
- Ensure that the extent, content, and purpose of programs and services for deaf and hard of hearing children are developed with the involvement and assistance of deaf and hard of hearing people, parents of deaf and hard of hearing students, and qualified and certified teachers and professionals trained in the education of deaf and hard of hearing students.
- Equip deaf and hard of hearing children with appropriate assistive technology across a full spectrum.
- Ensure that the parents are enabled to make informed decisions about which educational options are best suited to their child, by receiving and reviewing information about all the educational options provided by the school district and available to the child, as well as about options not provided by the school district.
- Establish an outreach program that provides sign language training and assistance and other support services to the parents of a deaf or hard of hearing child.
- Take steps to implement the Bill of Rights, including developing materials, disseminating information, and providing workshops, symposia, and other gatherings to ensure that decision makers understand and implement the Act.