[blindlaw] Homework Accessibility?

[Nightingale, Noel]

Lucy:

As a general rule, all recipients of federal financial assistance, like school districts, are required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to make their programs and activities accessible.  The complexity comes in applying the general rule to specific cases.  I suggest that you call the U.S. Department of Education Office for civil Rights assigned to your state, which can be found by going to its website at www.ed.gov/ocr.  You can discuss your specific circumstances with that office.

Noel Nightingale


-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Alex
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:51 PM
To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
Subject: [blindlaw] Homework Accessibility?

I posed these concerns and questions on the Blind Parents' list but thought I would post here as well for additional advice.

I am a blind, single mother of an autistic, four-year-old boy currently attending a special education pre-school program at an elementary school.  He will enter Kindergarten in the fall.  Because the school for which we are zoned does not have a pre-school program, he is currently attending out of zone.  I am trying to move into that school zone, but with the housing market being what it is, I am not sure that the move will take place before the beginning of the 2009/2010 school year.  the pre-school teacher provides e-mailed notes regarding my son's progress when I ask for them and sends exercises for homework when appropriate.  the speech therapist is willing to work with me to make homework accessible; however, we are having some difficulty with coming up with a way to label pictures.  There is no Vision rehabilitation Teacher at this school and may not be one in the school system (no one seems to know).  My concern is that I will be the one responsible for assisting my son in completing homework assignments.  although he is verbal to a degree, he is not able to tell me with any accuracy the events of his day or relate a story.  He is reading some but not enough to read a homework assignment.  My questions are:

Is the school system obligated to make homework assignments accessible for me?

If so, under what law?  (the pre-school teacher has been thinking of putting my son under 504 to ensure that progress reports, IEP's, and homework will be provided to me in an accessible format.  Is this the best option?  If not, what is?

what type of language needs to be in the IEP to ensure accessibility for me as the primary care giver?

This really needs to be tight because the school for which we are zoned is not known as having a great special ed program.  The IEP will be written in March.  thank you for any advice and reccomendations.
Lucy

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