The Law

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The Foreign Language Teacher's Guide to Learning Disabilities

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)

The heart of the Rehabilitation Act is Section 504: "No otherwise qualified individual with handicaps...shall solely by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA - 1975)

IDEA defines "children with disabilities" as those meeting two conditions:

1) with mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities.

2) who, by reason thereof, need special education and related services.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA - Passage in 1990). Public-access provisions of the act took effect in January 1992).

While Section 504 affirms that institutions receiving federal funding may not discriminate on the basis of disability, the Americans with Disabilities Act further stipulates that even if you don't receive funds from the federal government, you may not discriminate on the basis of disability.

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