Month: August 2015

What is a “reasonable accommodation” and what else are those called in the educational setting?

For us as educators, ‘reasonable accommodations’ means we’ll need to change the way things are usually done. Changes may be made to the environment, the tasks, providing assistive aids, technology, or services.

What might make an accommodation unreasonable?

Unreasonable accommodation is an interesting topic. If I understood it correctly, in Mark Weber’s “Unreasonable Accommodation and Due Hardship” paper, he posits that there is no accommodation that would be unreasonable and no hardship that is undue. He says this duty to accommodate is not subject to a cost-benefits, balance, but a cost-resource balance.  He acknowledges that accommodation may be expensive to satisfy.

Alex Long, in “Is There an Unreasonable Accommodation? Is There a Due Hardship?” discusses other court cases arguing about this topic. Employers definitely need to stay as well informed as possible.

Stephen Sonnenberg brought up some interesting scenarios in his article, “Unreasonable Accomodation” at Workforce.com. Employers don’t want to  ‘play favorites’ with preferential treatment. Instead, “antidiscrimination laws should guarantee disabled individuals an opportunity to compete equally, with or without accommodation. His scenarios are worth reviewing for additional discussion. Sonneberg advocates special consideration, but not preferential treatment.

Jeff Polsky shares ADA accommodations in his slideshare show below. Here is the text from slides 8 and 9 of his slideshow:

Slide 8: Reasonable accommodation/Undue Hardship
“Reasonable accommodation” may include• (A) making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible; and • (B) job restructuring, part–time/ modified work schedules; reassignment to a vacant position; acquiring or modifying equipment; modifying exams, training materials or policies; qualified readers or interpreters; and other similar accommodations

Slide 9: Reasonable accommodation/Undue Hardship
“Undue hardship” means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of: • the nature and cost of the accommodation; • the facility and the employer’s financial resources and number of employees; and • the effect on operations.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC:

The ADA, IDEA, and me

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What is IDEA and who does it protect? How does it differ from the ADA?

IDEA is an education act that gives federal monies to state and local education toward special education and such services for children with disabilities. IDEA protects children ages 3-21 who are deemed eligible for disability services, special education, and related services. Usually these services are referred to as special education and the student will have an IEP, or individualized education program. IDEA provides special education for 13 specific disabilities.  ADA’s 504 plan provides services for children with any disability, including learning or attention issues. ADA prohibits discrimination in the workplace, public services, and accommodations for those with disabilities. ADA protects any individual with a disability that limits life activities.

Understood.org shares an infographic to help outline the differences:

How do ADA, IDEA and other legislation in the readings and your exploration so far apply to you in your working (or future working) life (where might or do you find yourself needing to take ADA, IDEA, etc. into account?)

As a college faculty member, these legislations apply in my interactions with students. Sometimes I have students who have worked with UAF’s disability services and present documentation of their needs. Other times I have referred students to our disability services or have moved them to a seat where they could see or hear better and have shown them tools on their computer to make things larger.  When my student interaction is in an academic advising capacity, I make sure students are aware of available campus resources, such as the assistive technology lab.

As a parent, the IDEA legislation is particularly pertinent: my child may have special needs identified that would indicate the need for special education and an IEP.

IEP Roadmap created by the National Center for Learning Disabilities and hosted by elearninggraphics.com:

In either role, I appreciate sites like theinclusiveclass.com with links such as “The 10 Best Websites for the Inclusive Classroom.”

Back to Exploring the ADA

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