Wallace College - Disablities - Difference Between High School and College

An important issue for potential and current college students with disabilities is to understand the differences between the application of disability rights laws in secondary and post-secondary institutions. The most basic distinction between services for students with disabilities in high school and college is secondary settings are geared towards least restrictive setting whereas post-secondary institutions are obligated to provide access. In other words more responsibility is placed on student initiative in higher education.

A student's responsibilities dramatically increase as they move from secondary to postsecondary education. The chart below illustrates differences between secondary and post-secondary obligations of students with accommodation requests.

COMPARISON OF RESPONSIBILITIES IN HIGH SCHOOL UNDER P.L. 94-142/IDEA/ 504 AND IN COLLEGE UNDER SECTION 504 AND ADA

Issue	Responsibility at Secondary Level	Responsibility at Postsecondary Level
Identification of disability	School	Student
Assessment of disability	School	Student
Programming	School/Parent	Student/Institution
Advocacy	School/Parent	Student
Decision Making	Placement Team	Institution/Student
Transition Planning	School/Student	N/A
Placement Team	Student	N/A

Brinckerhoff, L. C. Shaw, S. F. and J. M. McGuire, J. M. (1992), "Promoting Access, Accommodations, And Independence For College Students With Learning Disabilities" Journal of Learning Disabilities, 25(7), 417-429. Copyright 1992 by PRO-ED, Inc. Reprinted by permission

COMPARISON OF LEGAL DIFFERENCES

High School	College
Services provided under IDEA or Section 504.	Services provided under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and The Americans with Disabilities Act.

High School	College
School district responsible for identifying and evaluating disability at No cost to student or family.	Student must self identify and provide documentation of disability. Student must pay cost of evaluation. College responsible for costs involved in providing accommodations and/or essential auxiliary aids student needs based on documentation of disability.

COMPARISON OF ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT DIFFERENCES

High School	College
Special education teacher liaison and buffer between student, other teachers, administrators, and parents. The decision to receive accommodations is made by educators and parents. Students have little or no choice.	Student responsible for self advocacy. Student can choose not to seek services and accommodations and can choose to function independently. Student must self identify disability and request services from college. Student required to provide recent documentation (less than three years old) of disability. Documentation must clearly support requested accommodations.

High School	College
Help readily available.	Student must independently seek help using effective communication skills. Services must be requested well in advance (i.e.. you cannot wait until day of test to ask for accommodations).

High School	College
Student "labeled" as special education student. Student possibly served separately from other students.	Student not "labeled" or served separately from other students. Other students and faculty will not know about student's disability. Faculty only notified of required accommodations.

High School	College
Personnel talk freely with parent about student progress and planning.	Personnel cannot discuss student without student's written permission.

Adapted from: * Claire E. Weinstein, Karalee Johnson, Robert Malloch, Scott Ridley and Paul Schults. Innovation Abstracts (vol. x No. 21; Sept. 30, 1988.) National Institute for Staff & Organizational Development (NISOD); the University of Texas. Austin, Texas 78712. * F. Shaw, L.C. Brinckerhoff, J. Kistler, and J.M. McGuire, 1991, Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 2, 21-26. * The Postsecondary Learning Disabilities Primer, Learning Disabilities Training Project, Western Carolina University, 1989. * Brinckerhoff, L.C., S.F. Shaw, and J.M. McGuire, 1993, Promoting Postsecondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities. * Vogel, S. A. Adelman, P.B. 1993, Success for College Students with Learning Disabilities.