Facilitating_Instruction_for_Diverse_Adult_Learners

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the American with Disabilities Act and a relationship with adult education. The American with Disabilities Act enacted legislation in 1991 and updated the regulations in 2010 in regard to the ADA. According to the Department of Justice, the Department´s 1991 title II ADA regulation published July 26, 1991 should continue to be used until March 14, 2011. The Department´s 2010 title II ADA regulation published September 15, 2010 should be used beginning March 15, 2011. The summary of this legislation states the following: This rule implements subtitle A of title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities. Subtitle A protects qualified individuals with disabilities from discrimination on the basis of disability in the services, programs, or activities of all state and local governments. It extends the prohibition of discrimination in federally assisted programs established by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to all activities of state and local governments, including those that do not receive Federal financial assistance, and incorporates specific prohibitions of discrimination on the basis of disability from titles I, III, and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This rule, therefore, adopts the general prohibitions of discrimination established under section 504, as well as the requirements for making programs accessible to individuals with disabilities and for providing equally effective communications. It also sets forth standards for what constitutes discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disability, provides a definition of disability and qualified individual with a disability, and establishes a complaint mechanism for resolving allegations of discrimination (Department of Justice, 2010). According to author Suzanne Wilhelm in her article titled, “Accommodating Mental Disabilities in Higher Education- A Practical Guide to ADA Requirements,” the number of students requesting ADA accommodations for mental illness is growing at an astounding rate. These conditions result in difficulties within the school environment providing alternate learning options for the disabled. Wilhelm states, students may not meet ADA requirements for various reasons. Students may lack adequate documentation to establish impairment, or they may be impaired but not substantially limited in any major life activities when compared with most people in the general population. Furthermore, students may be disabled under the ADA, but there may be no reasonable way to accommodate their functional limitations without lowering academic standards or altering the academic program. In these situations, there is no federal legal requirement for institutions to provide accommodation (Wilhelm, 2003). In the case of Guckenberger v. Boston University, students sued the institution because of the changes in the required documentation for ADA accommodations. The court allowed the testimony of Dr. Robert Shaw. During the trial, Dr. Robert Shaw from the Learning Disabilities Department testified that students come into the learning disabilities office requesting accommodations even though they lack sufficient documentation and that he gives them what he refers to as "vanilla" accommodations anyway. He explained that vanilla accommodations include extra time on exams and distraction free environments for testing. By doing this, institutions of higher education accommodate students who are not entitled to ADA accommodations. Those administrators in charge either do not know the genuine aspects of the law and the requirements or they are trying to be politically correct and avoid making problems, which will resort to litigation. Granting accommodations to students not legally entitled to receive them creates an unfair system in which students who are earning their degrees by traditional means must compete with students acquiring greater advantages, and greater likelihood of success (Wilhelm, 2003). In addition, the case of Zukle v. Regents of the University of California, Medical student Zukle applied to medical school under the ADA and was granted admission with the accommodations advised by the Federal regulations. According to the court files, takes Zukle longer to read and to absorb information than the average person. The learning institution took notice of that and allowed her three years instead of the usual two years to complete the clinical portion of her studies and she still failed all her courses and was subsequently dismissed from school. The court decided that reasonable accommodations had been met and exceeded and that the case has no merit and was dismissed (Find Law for Legal Professionals, 1999). Enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act, Congress concluded that it was important for the current legislation to use terminology most in line with the sensibilities of most Americans with disabilities. No change in definition or substance is intended nor should one be attributed to this change in phraseology. Department of Justice defined "disability" with respect to an individual as • A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; • A record of such an impairment; or • Being regarded as having such impairment. If an individual meets any of these three tests, he or she is considered to be an individual with a disability for purposes of coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act (Department of Justice, 2010). Congress adopted this same basic definition of "disability," first used in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and in the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, for a number of reasons. First, it has worked well because it was adopted in 1974. Second, it would not be possible to guarantee comprehensiveness by providing a list of specific disabilities, especially because new disorders may be recognized in the future, as they have since the definition was first established in 1974. Test A- A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual Under the American with Disabilities Act an individual must have a physical or mental impairment. As explained in paragraph one of the definition, "impairment" means any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs (which would include speech organs not respiratory such as vocal cords, soft palate, tongue, etc.); respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genitourinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine. It also means any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities (Department of Justice, 2010). The two cases cited in this paper demonstrate the necessity for a clear, concise doctrine concerning the rules and regulations. In the case of Boston College everybody received exemptions from certain classes to avoid making waves and this policy (since changed) was unfair to both the student who really needed the assistance and the student that was honest and took the exempted classes as part of the assigned curriculum. In the second case, Zukle v. Regents of the University of California, every possible accommodation was made for the student and the student was still not capable of passing the medical school qualifications. The student has the right to request accommodations and the school is required to provide him but there is definitely no guarantee of passing the course and graduating in the legislation (Find Law for Legal Professionals, 1999). Instructors of the present and the future must have an administration with a clear, concise understanding of the ADA requirements. Administrations should not offer a blanket policy of exemptions out of misunderstandings the rules or fear of future litigation. The fear of adjusting the rules and regulations to avoid making waves in the system should not be tolerated. On the other side of the coin, the instructor and administration should demonstrate no fear when after following all the rules and regulations and making all possible accommodations for the ADA qualified student, and cut all ties to the underperforming student who cannot pass the course requirements. Reference Department of Justice, (2010). Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services, Retrieved from the World Wide Web at www.ada.gov, November 23, 2010 Find Law for Legal Professionals, (1999). Zukle v. Regents of the University of California, Retrieved from the World Wide Web at http://caselaw.findlaw.com, November 22, 2010 Wilhelm, S. (2003). Accommodating Mental Disabilities in Higher Education: A Practical Guide to ADARrequirements. Retrieved from the World Wide Web at http://www.allbusiness.com, November 20, 2010