Madeline’s teenage son, David, had a progressive disability. Soon, David would need to use a wheelchair full time. In preparation, Madeline contacted David’s school to see how they would accommodate his disability. She was curious about things such as classroom location, accessible parking spots, automatic doors, and fire evacuation procedures.

Madeline was discouraged by the initial conversation with the school and left feeling like the administrator didn’t know much about accessibility or students’ rights. Looking for help, Madeline reached out to her regional ADA Center. The ADA Specialist told her that David had protections under two laws: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The school was required to fulfill the program access requirements of the ADA. Under the ADA, program access means that a public entity’s services, programs, or activities, when viewed in their entirety, must be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. In this case, that meant the school may have to shuffle schedules or classroom locations, assign additional staff, or make other changes to make public school accessible to David. The ADA Specialist emailed Madeline with additional resources about the ADA and gave her contact information for organizations which could give her information about Section 504.

Madeline approached the school again, this time with more information to help her advocate for her son’s rights. The school moved David’s math class to a first-floor classroom, created an accessible parking spot, reviewed the fire evacuation procedures for students with disabilities, and created a plan to conduct an audit for automatic doors. Madeline was able to successfully navigate the situation, thanks to the ADA and her regional ADA Center!