Dysgraphia in HS Students

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IDEA - The Individuals with Disabilities Educaton Act is a federal law intended to ensure "a free appropriate public education for all students with disabilities." Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE): Entitles a public school child with a disability to an educational program and related services to meet her unique educational needs at no cost to the parents; based on IEP; under public supervision and meets state standards. The main purpose is to provide education and related services specialized to meet the specific needs of disabled students and to prepare them for employment, further education and independent living. The other important purpose of this law is to protect the rights of children with disabilities and also their parent's rights. Under IDEA a child can qualify as disabled by being diagnosed with one of the following: a specific learning disability, autism, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, speech or language impairments, hearing impairments and mental retardation.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990- Bush Sr. signed this into law. This is a very broad civil rights bill that prohibits discrimination based on disabilities. It is similar in scope to the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 which made discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, and religion illegal. The bill defines disabilty as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity."

The Assistive Technology Act is designed to provide federal funding in order to help states pay for making technology available to persons with disabilities. The act defined the term "assistive technology" as "any tool or item that increases, maintains or improves funtional capabilities of individuals with disabilities." The Feds provide funding for all states to set up an agency to be responsive to the technology needs of disabled persons.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first piece of legislation that guaranteed certain rights to disabled persons. It helped pave the way for the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act that is discussed earlier. The 30th anniversay of section 504 was celebrated in April of this year.

The telecommunications Act of 1996 was signed into law by Bill Clinton and was a sweeping reform of the telecommunications industry. Section 255 of this act requires that all telecommunication services be accessible to persons with disabilities.

Here are some links that contain more information on the body of law that governs disabilites