Legal Issues

"No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States shall, solely by reason of a disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." - The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act Of 1973

A person with a disability disability includes "any person who

• has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities,
• has record of such an impairment, or
• is regarded as having such an impairment."

A qualified person with a disability is one…"who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the education program or activity."

Under the provisions of Section 504...
Eastern Kentucky University may not discriminate in the recruitment, admission, educational process or treatment of individuals with disabilities. Persons who have self identified, provided appropriate documentation of disability, and requested reasonable accommodations are entitled to receive approved modifications to programs, appropriate academic adjustments, or auxiliary aids that enable them to participate in and benefit from all educational programs and activities.

Section 504 protects the rights of individuals who have disabilities such as but not limited to:

• Blindness
• Tourette's Syndrome
• Visual impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Cerebral Palsy
• AIDS
• Deafness
• Cancer
• Hearing Impairment
• Cardiac Disease
• Epilepsy or Seizure Disorder
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Orthopedic impairment
• Diabetes
• Mobility impairment
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Specific Learning Disability
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Speech and Language Disorder
• Psychiatric Disorders
• Spinal Cord Injury

The University is not required to lower its standards. Section 504 does require the university to provide reasonable
accommodations that afford an equal opportunity for persons with disabilities. Achieving reasonable accommodations for a person with a disability involves shared responsibility between students, faculty and staff.