How the IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA protect students with medical conditions from disability discrimination at school.
Children with impairments may face difficulties to participation in school or face prejudice as a result of their health-care requirements. Here are a few such instances.
Children who need medicine throughout the school day, such as an asthma inhaler or insulin, may have trouble obtaining it.
Children who are prone to seizures or severe allergic reactions may be barred from taking part in activities such as field excursions.
Children with severe impairments that affect breathing, elimination, or other body processes may need assistance from the school.
Children with seizure problems or autism may need that their service animal accompany them to school.
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Federal Laws that Protect Disabled Students
Fortunately, regulations protect kids with disabilities who have health-related needs, and there are actions families may take to assist minimize health-care rejections and prejudice. Most schools are required by law to satisfy the health-related requirements of their students throughout the school day and during school-sponsored extracurricular activities. Furthermore, they forbid schools from limiting the activities of kids with impairments in order to avoid having to meet health-related requirements.
IDEIA/IDEA
Individuals with Impairments in Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., requires that public schools offer a free adequate public education to children with learning disabilities. (IDEIA, which was approved in 2004, is also known as IDEA, the 1997 education legislation that it replaced.)
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are required by IDEIA for each covered student. If a kid with an IEP has health issues, his health requirements may be addressed in the IEP. The health part of a child’s IEP, for example, may demand more time on exams to accommodate her cognitive handicap or an extended snack break to assist regulate her diabetes.
504 Section
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (often known as Section 504), 29 U.S.C. 701 et seq., forbids discrimination against children with disabilities in public and private schools that receive federal money. If a student is protected by IDEIA, he is likewise protected under Section 504. (However, the contrary is not true. Section 504 will cover a kid who just has a health handicap, such as asthma, but not the IDEIA. IEPs are not available to children who simply have health-related challenges.)
Individual Health Plans (IHPs) are required under Section 504 to address any health-related requirements that students may have. For example, a kid with a peanut allergy may need an IHP, which assures that school employees may promptly provide an epi-pen shot if an allergen produces an anaphylactic response.
ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq., outlaws discrimination against children with disabilities in all public schools and most private schools. Because the IDEIA and Section 504 cover public schools, the ADA’s safeguards are sometimes redundant (unnecessary) in that context. At contrast, the ADA is the sole safeguard provided to disabled students in private schools that do not receive federal funding.
The ADA, unlike the IDEIA and Section 504, does not compel schools to prepare written plans to meet the needs of children with disabilities. At the same time, the ADA requires schools to make reasonable changes to rules, regulations, and procedures to enable children with disabilities to fully engage in school programs and services, including extracurricular activities. The ADA, for example, demands that a school that requires all student drugs to be maintained in the nurse’s office make an exemption for a student with asthma who has to use his inhaler often.
How Parents Can Protect the Rights of Their Disabled Children
Except for churches-run schools that get no government financing, all schools are subject to at least one of the regulations described above. This implies that in the great majority of educational settings, children with disabilities who have health-related requirements are legally protected. Unfortunately, the presence of possible legal protection does not guarantee that such protection will be provided.
Parents of kids with disabilities may take actions to ensure their children get the health-related safeguards they need at school.
Recognize the Disability and the Related Health Needs
In order to explain their child’s disability and associated health requirements to a school, parents must first establish a detailed awareness of their child’s impairment and related health needs. Speaking with your child’s doctor on a frequent basis is often the best method to gain a complete grasp of a condition and its associated demands. It is critical to understand the diagnosis, symptoms (including frequency and duration), therapy, drugs, and if treatment or medications are likely to be required throughout the school day and/or during school-sponsored extracurricular activities.
Assist the school in understanding the disability and associated health needs.
Parents must inform their kid’s school in full about any disability-related health requirements that their child may have while at school and/or participating in school-sponsored extracurricular activities. As a first step, parents may contact the school’s special education coordinator, 504 coordinator, or other person assigned to address disability-related health problems. (If it is unclear who to contact, contact the school’s administration to find out who should be notified.)
Parents who request that a school accommodate their child’s disability-related health requirements should supply the school with full information on the impairment and needs. You may ask the school to include a health component in your child’s IEP, create an IHP (Individual Health Plan), or make a reasonable change. These demands may include giving your kid with an assistant.
It is also crucial to present facts demonstrating a link between the impairment and the desired accommodation. A school may understand why a kid with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone condition) need other activities to rough and tumble play during gym time. In contrast, unless the parent explains that the youngster gets weary quickly, it is unlikely that he would understand why he needs a rest period in the afternoon. In addition to the parent’s comprehensive explanation, it is often beneficial for the doctor to submit a letter to the school supporting the parent’s request that the school construct a health part of an IEP, an IHP, or a reasonable modification. Keep in mind that a child’s medical documents may be requested by a school.
Ascertain if the child is aware of his or her disability and health requirements.
A critical component of ensuring a child’s health-related requirements are fulfilled throughout the school day is delivering age-appropriate information about his or her handicap to the kid. This knowledge empowers children to advocate for themselves at school when you are not there. For example, if a kid who suffers from migraines is taught to notice triggers or symptoms early on, he will be able to notify his school when he needs to visit the nurse to take his prescription.
Organizations that may assist parents with school issues
It might be beneficial for parents to contact groups specialized on the impairment with which their kid has been diagnosed in order to complete the three procedures outlined above. These organizations may often give advice on how to ensure that a school addresses a child’s health-related requirements. The following national organizations offer information regarding school-related health issues due to certain disabilities:
American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/ Epilepsy Foundation, http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/
www.nami.org: National Alliance on Mental Illness
United Cerebral Palsy www.UCP.org/ BazelonCenterforMentalHealthLaw http://www.bazelon.org/
Obtaining Additional Assistance
If a school refuses to offer essential accommodations and/or services to fulfill a child’s disability-related health requirements, or otherwise discriminates against him or her because of the condition, a family may need to seek legal action. The above-mentioned organizations may be able to refer families to legal aid in their local state.
For families with children in federally funded public or private schools, the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Education (OCR), www.ed.gov/ocr, offers tools to guarantee that schools meet kids’ health-related requirements and do not participate in disability discrimination. The OCR offers information on how to file complaints against schools that do not comply.
Furthermore, each state has a federally required protection and advocacy organization that deals with specific disability-related concerns. More information regarding protection and advocacy organizations in your state may be found at the National Disability Rights Network, www.ndrn.org.
If your school is refusing to work with you to fulfill your child’s needs, or if you want counsel at an IEP meeting, you may speak with a disability lawyer or an education lawyer.