Disability Law - Essay Example

Disability Law: Two-Question Essay Disability Law Essay Questions In response to Guckenberger II, Boston University appointed a faculty committee to consider whether a foreign language requirement was an appropriate requirement for a student enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences. Despite the fact that elite universities such as Harvard did not have such a requirement, the faculty committee determined that the foreign language requirement was central to its arts and sciences majors. The court, in Guckenberger III [8 F. Supp. 2d 82 (D. Mass. 1998)] concluded that the university had complied with the law in determining that eliminating the foreign language requirement for students with disabilities would "fundamentally alter the nature of the degree.

" How does this ruling compare to other court rulings that deal with academic judgments There is a requirement to provide education in the least restrictive environment. According to Kaplan et. al. (2007), "BU failed to demonstrate that it met its duty of seeking appropriate reasonable accommodations for learning disabled students with difficulty in learning foreign languages by considering alternative means and coming to a rationally justifiable conclusion that the available alternative would lower academic standards or require substantial program alteration.

" "On May 26, 2006, in School Board of Henrico County VA v. R.T., a minor, Judge Robert Payne of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia issued an extensive pro-child decision on behalf of RT, a child with autism, in a tuition reimbursement case" ("Court Cases of Interest," 2009). In this case, the student was awarded funding because the school system did not give the child an appropriate educational program ("Court Cases of Interest," 2009). This is similar to Guckenberger II in the way that the education being provided was inappropriate for the student's needs.

According to Wright (2005), in another court case, Schaffer v. Weast, the question was asked, "In a dispute between parents and school officials, should schools be required to prove that the plans they propose are adequate and appropriate" It was ruled that the burden of proof fell to the parents because they were the ones issuing the complaint. It is a shame that they could not, however, prove their case, in comparison to Guckenberger III. 2. After reviewing the court's opinion in Guckenberger II, how would you advise the head of the office of disability services with respect to balancing the institution's concern for upholding academic standards with the requirements of the ADA and Section 504 According to Kaplan et. al. (2007), "Plaintiffs argue that BU's new accommodations policy makes it unnecessarily difficult for students to document their learning disabilities when requesting accommodation.

" Since the ADA requires students to be placed in the least restrictive environment, it would only seem normal and natural for the school to want to provide some sort of alternative for students with learning disabilities so that they wouldn't have to have the foreign language requirement. It would be advisable that the head of the office of disability services try to amend the Boston University policy or face legal action. In that regard, Boston University should seriously review its policies regarding disability services.