WNY Collegiate Consortium and Disability Advocates

Is it true that the IEP or the 504 plan and its contents apply to college settings?
No. The IEP is part of IDEA and has no meaning in the college except as a record of services and an outline of what may be needed. Colleges and universities also fall under different regulations than K-12 schools and therefore are responsible for providing services under 504 in a different way.

Will the Student Exit Summary be sufficient to meet the documentation of disability for college?
Probably not. The SES is intended to be a resource for families and decision making, It is not intended to be handed to outside entities such as colleges or agencies although it may provide them with useful information. That said colleges only have the right to request documentation information that is applicable and useful to address the request for accommodations. Students who will need to take licensure or certification exams for their professions may need to provide additional information, more recent and in depth for the accommodations on such high stakes tests as nursing, GRE, teaching etc.

The high school waived math or foreign language for my son or daughter due to disability; will the college also waive these courses?
If a student wants to major in international business, it is likely that the college will consider both math and foreign language to be essential components of the program. If a student wants to be an art major, that may be a different matter. However, in September 2000, the SUNY Board of Trustees established new General Education requirements for any student in a NYS public (SUNY) college whose goal is to earn a BA or BS degree. These requirements include 9 hours of history, one or two years of foreign language and completion of at least college level Algebra. Decisions about these requirements are made by each college and academic program, EXCEPT where the program leads to certification such as education, nursing, etc. Do not assume that what was waived in high school can or will be waived in college.

Is an IEP diploma the same as a local diploma?
No. An IEP diploma means that the student met his or her personal IEP goals but did not meet the graduation requirements necessary for a local or Regents diploma.

Will Colleges accept an IEP diploma for admission?
Colleges regard a student with an IEP diploma as a non-high school graduate just as they regard any student who does not have a local diploma or a GED diploma. In NYS, four-year colleges by state law can not accept any student who does not have a Regents, local diploma or a GED. The student must consult each college she is considering because there is no one simple answer to this question.

My child applied to VESID (NYS Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities) but was not eligible for college tuition assistance. Does that mean she is not eligible for services in college?
VESID provides vocational rehabilitation services to eligible individuals in order to help them achieve a specific employment outcome. The particular services an individual receives depends upon a number of actions such as the agreed upon vocational goal, the individual’s needs, and may also be contingent upon economic need. It is important to remember that college assistance is only one of the services that VESID may provide. A person who does not qualify for VESID college assistance may be eligible for other kinds of vocational rehabilitation services from VESID. It is always best to consult with the VESID counselor rather than assume that a service can or cannot be approved.

However, while VESID’s focus is on training or retraining for employment, the college’s focus is education and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified students to have the opportunity to be competitive in their college courses. The determination that colleges make is totally separate from VESID eligibility. The determination of whether colleges provide services is based on the information available in the disability documentation that the student presents to the college. The more thorough the documentation, the easier it will be for the college to provide appropriate and effective accommodations.

My son has a 504 plan that was updated his senior year for next year when he is in college. When should we give this to the College?
This is an EXCELLENT question! Many districts realize that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act applies both to secondary and postsecondary education and therefore assume that what the high school writes, the college must follow.

NOT TRUE! In the next section on legal issues the reader will learn that Section 504 is one law with different subparts. Subpart E, which applies to postsecondary education, has no relationship to the subpart D that covers K-12. Therefore, anything written at the high school level, whether it is an IEP or a 504 plan does not apply to college. The disability support office at the college may request copies of these documents in order to get an idea of the services that the student used, but is not required to duplicate them.

My daughter has always received services because she is classified as being emotionally disturbed. The college she plans to attend says she will not be eligible for services there, how can that be?
The student is facing the distinction of a “classification” versus a “diagnosis”. Students in elementary and secondary schools can be classified as emotionally disturbed (ED) for a number of reasons ranging from trauma in the family due to death, separation or divorce to actual emerging psychiatric conditions such as bi-polar disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Students who are acting out due to trauma are not disabled. Their behavior may warrant placing them in alternative learning environments in high school, but they do not necessarily have a mental impairment that limits everyday life functions. That student is not eligible for services through the disability office at the college.

The individual who has an actual psychiatric condition such as OCD should be referred to a psychiatrist for diagnosis and treatment. This individual might be eligible for services due to the impact of the disability on everyday activities. The medical professional would need to provide documentation of that disability which would an explanation of how the condition impacts everyday life. Recommendations from a medical professional regarding possible accommodations will be given conscientious consideration by the college.

To take the answer a step further, it is possible for someone to have one or more conditions that don’t have a specific diagnosis but that definitely create a functional limitation to everyday activity. A friend gave a recent example of a student who suddenly developed hand tremors. The medical professionals were not able to narrow down her condition to a specific diagnosis, but her tremors certainly impacted her everyday life from caring for herself, dressing and feeding to driving, taking notes in class and trying to write. Is she disabled? Yes. Is there a specific diagnosis? No. But she has significant functional limitation in everyday activities.

My daughter has a learning disability and went to the disability office on her campus to arrange for services. The Service coordinator told her that her documentation was too old and that she would have to be retested. I’m furious; she has a learning disability, why does she need to be tested AGAIN?
This is one of the mostly hotly debated topics in our field. Documentation, retesting, currency of documentation, etc. Part of the issue is philosophical. Part of it is a carry over from early requirements in the K-12 system for evaluations every three years. Part of the issue is rigidity on the part of some service providers to ONLY provide accommodations based on information in the documentation. Part of it is campuses making you jump through hoops because they have the right to maintain their academic standards and integrity.

I hear the Syms store ad “An educated consumer is our best customer” when I hear this question. It is so true. You are shopping colleges to find the fit, appearance, atmosphere, philosophy, services and academics that best fit your needs and desires. As any good shopper knows, one size doesn’t fit anyone well.

Think of a multi sided jigsaw puzzle like a rubic’s cube. You and your student have needs, wants, issues, strengths, deficits etc. The college has services, programs, staffing, services, technology etc. The picture that you complete depends on how you assemble the pieces. It is not very likely that you will find a college that will fit perfectly, your goal is to find a college that will work with your student to the best of their mutual ability.

OK. This student has a clear history of learning disability and the IEP probably documents that extended time and test readers were routinely provided. If similar accommodations are all the student is requesting and the Student Exit Summary indicates that a test reader (or use of technology for reading) was an effective accommodation, then further documentation should not be needed. There may be sufficient information available to support the request.

Many students with learning disabilities have had math above the algebra level or foreign language requirements waived in high school. More times than I care to admit, parents have told me that that counselor at the high school assured them that the college would waive the requirement be it math or foreign language, because the high school did. WRONG!! WRONG!! One parent whose son had had math waived understood then that we would waive math in college–EXCEPT he wanted to major in Architecture! Clearly math is essential in such a field and cannot be waived. The same is true for students who want to be teachers and who had foreign language waived. Foreign language is a NYS requirement for teacher certification it CANNOT be waived—but the requirement can be met in different ways. American Sign Language is an option; a French, Italian (etc.) literature or culture class in place of a language class; foreign study immersion programs are sometimes a solution. The requirement is still met, it is simply fulfilled in a different manner.

So, the question is whether or not this student would need further documentation of disability beyond the testing done when she was 12 and the answer is yes, probably so. The existing testing probably doesn’t include the sequencing, fluid reasoning skills and problem solving information needed to justify a math accommodation and probably needs in depth testing to support the request for foreign language substitution.

The best advice is to talk to the disability services person at the campus the student plans to attend and ask questions. And a final piece of advice:
If the school psychologist can provide an accurate picture of the student’s current level of function by administering a screening test or some additional testing that provides comparable information to the WAIS that may be acceptable. Colleges have the right to determine what documentation they want, so the best plan is to work with the disability office at the college the student plans to attend.

My son has a learning disability and brought in the psychological evaluation and was told that it is too old and he has to be retested. Why?
This question is closely related to the one above it. Some certification boards (Medical boards, law exam etc.) MAY require that documentation be no more than 3 years old; if that is the case, then the student who requires accommodations on the board exam may need to be retested. The student may also be applying to a college or academic program where very specific kinds of documentation information is needed to establish eligibility.

These are some examples of the questions and issues that face colleges. Remember that these are legal issues. Section 504 does not require that colleges and universities provide everything any student with a disability requests, even if they would benefit from it. 504 is not special education law like IDEA. Section 504 is anti-discrimination legislation. Its purpose is to assure that qualified individuals with disabilities have the same access to programs and services as their non-disabled peers. That means that colleges and universities are required to consider each student and each request for accommodation on an individual basis; that is how students and parents must begin to think about them also. The next section of Effective College Planning will go into the legal issues in more detail.