Communication is a key part of education. For students with speech and language disorders, the accommodations and support they receive can heavily influence their educational success.
Unfortunately, those with speech and language disorders often face unfair stereotypes. That someone has a speech disorder has no relationship to their intelligence or ability to succeed in school. That a student requires accommodations or needs to take a different path to their goals shouldn’t lessen their educational opportunities.
Federal law prohibits discrimination based on disability. It also affords students, whatever their age or grade level, the right to accommodations in the classroom and for school activities and events.
Unfortunately, the law on paper and the law in practice don’t always align. Schools may meet the letter of the law or fail to provide reasonable accommodations. Or schools may offer one-size-fits-all accommodations, not appreciating how disabilities and how they manifest are unique to each individual.
If you or your student has a speech and language disorder, you have the right to accommodations as part of your education. The Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help you get the support you need to succeed. We work with students and families nationwide to protect their right to an education free of discrimination. Contact us at 888-535-3686 or by using this form.
What are Speech and Language Disorders?
Speech and language disorders is an umbrella term for a wide range of issues that affect a person’s ability to communicate. Someone with a language disorder may have trouble learning words or understanding what others are saying.
Someone with a speech disorder may be unable to form correct speech sounds. These conditions affect the ability to produce sounds necessary to create words. These disorders are often the result of damage to muscles, nerves, or vocal structures. Common examples include voice disorders, stuttering, apraxia of speech, and ataxia.
One of the challenges with speech and language disorders is that they’re grouped with speech and language impairments. The terms disorder and impairment are occasionally used interchangeably, and while accommodations and services may be similar, any services should be tailored to the student and that student’s specific disability.
Defining Speech and Language Disorders
Depending on their age and disability, students receive support from two federal laws. In addition, there’s the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which is the cornerstone of disability rights in the United States.
IDEA Definition
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) applies to K-12 public schools. The law has a list of eligible disabilities, which includes speech and language impairments. The law defines these to include communication disorders such as:
- Stuttering
- Impaired articulation
- Language impairment
- Voice impairment
Having a disability isn’t enough to qualify a student under IDEA. The student must:
- Have a qualifying disability
- That disability must adversely affect a child’s educational performance
K-12 students who don’t qualify under IDEA may qualify under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This law also covers college and graduate students.
ADA and 504 Definition
Section 504 and the ADA use the same definition of disability. Under these laws, a disability is:
- A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at least
- One major life activity
- Education is a major life activity
- A history of a physical or mental impairment
- Others’ perception that an individual has a disability
Any speech and language disorder that substantially limits a student’s ability to participate in school may qualify them for support under Section 504.
Effective Communication
The ADA covers almost all schools in the United States, both public and private. Public schools are generally title II entities, and private schools are generally title III entities. Any school that either accepts federal funds or is open to the public must comply with the ADA.
One of the ADA’s requirements is that both title II and title III entities communicate effectively with people who have communication disabilities. A school’s communication with students with speech and language disorders should be equally effective as communication with students without these disabilities.
Schools need to recognize that students with speech and language disorders may communicate in different ways and make adjustments accordingly.
2011 Rules
The ADA established the following rules about effective communication. They went into effect in March 2011.
- The purpose of these rules is to ensure that students and other individuals with vision, hearing, and speech disabilities can communicate with, receive information from, and convey information to their school
- When needed, schools must provide auxiliary aids and services to foster effective communication with students who have communication disabilities
- To communicate effectively, schools must consider:
- A communication’s nature, length, complexity, and context
- The student’s normal method of communication
- These rules apply not just to students but also to students’ parents, spouses, or companions
What are Auxiliary Aids and Services?
As part of the 2011 rules, the ADA included guidelines as to what meets the criteria for auxiliary aids and services. For students with speech and language disorders, these aids and services may include providing:
- A qualified speech-to-speech transliterator
- Interpreters
- Assistive listening systems and devices
- Open captioning, closed captioning, real-time captioning, and closed caption decoders and devices
- Voice, text, and video-based telecommunications products
- Videotext displays
- Video description and secondary auditory programming (SAP) devices
- Accessibility features in electronic documents
This last point highlights that the changing nature of technology means there are an increasing number of ways for students to communicate. It also opens up more potential problems, such as whether a student in a remote learning environment requires different accommodations than a student in a classroom.
Timely Communication
As the 2011 rules state, schools need to consider the events and details about a communication. The appropriate aids and services may change depending on these factors. In some cases, having a pen and paper available may be enough to foster effective communication. In other situations, students may require one-on-one support.
School staff should also make sure to allow sufficient time for effective communication. Some students may require more time than others for effective communication, and schools should consider the individual student’s needs.
It’s also important that staff listen attentively. They should be willing to ask a student to repeat a word or phrase if necessary or ask questions to check that everyone is on the same page.
Who Determines Aids and Services?
Whether an entity is title II or title III determines who has the final say in what aids and services a school makes available.
The ADA requires that public schools, which are title II entities, give primary consideration to aid or service preferences of the student with a communication disability (or their family). Schools must honor a student’s preference.
The exception is if a school can show that:
- Another equally effective means of communication is available
- The preferred aid or service would fundamentally alter a class or create an undue burden
IDEA and Section 504 refer to this consideration as reasonable accommodations. Even if a school doesn’t honor a student’s preference, they must still provide an effective aid or service.
In contrast, private schools and other title III entities only have to consider a student’s preferences. The ADA encourages these schools to ask students about their preferences for aids or services, but a school can provide any aid or service as long as it’s effective.
In determining what constitutes a reasonable accommodation that fosters effective communication, all schools should consider the nature of the communication and a student’s preferred method of communication.
Effective Communication in One Sentence
The ADA boils down these effective communication guidelines into one sentence:
“The purpose of the effective communication rules is to ensure that the person with a communication disability can receive information from, and convey information to, the covered entity.”
In other words, effective communication is communication that allows the student in question to communicate effectively. That may be achieved with one of the mentioned methods, or it may require an entirely different aid or service.
If a school isn’t providing a student with the aids and services they require to effectively communicate, contact the Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm.
The Importance of Assessments
Before a student can receive special education services or accommodations, they must undergo assessments to determine the nature of their disability. What students and families may not fully appreciate is that assessments don’t just determine if a student receives accommodations. They also determine what type of accommodations they receive.
A student’s initial evaluation lays the groundwork for what support they will receive as part of their education. For students with speech and language disorders, these assessments can be especially challenging.
Depending on their age and the type of evaluation they undergo, students may struggle with understanding directions or other communication. Students and parents should keep in mind that evaluations and assessments can include accommodations.
Possible assessment accommodations for students with speech and language disorders:
- Reading directions out loud
- Providing written directions
- Breaking assessment down into smaller parts
- Giving students additional time to complete assessments
- Allowing students to use a book or dictionary
- Providing communication devices, such as those listed in the effective communication section
Depending on a student’s history, if a student has struggled in school prior to assessments, any sort of testing may result in increased anxiety. That’s why, as much as possible, both evaluations and assessments should focus on the individual student and how best to support them.
A comprehensive assessment is important because it increases the likelihood that the results are accurate and fully represent a student’s disability. This, in turn, increases the chances of a student receiving effective accommodations.
Evaluations don’t just determine if a student has a disability. They’re the foundation on which a student’s school support is built. K-12 schools may refuse to evaluate a child or provide insufficient assessments. Students in college may struggle with how to get needed documentation. The Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help.
K-12 Qualification
Under IDEA, K-12 public schools must locate and evaluate all children and teenagers with potential disabilities. This includes toddlers and children too young to attend school and students who attend other schools or are educated at home.
Once students qualify under IDEA, they receive an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These documents list what accommodations and services a student will receive.
While IEPs are legally binding, families can request revisions at any point, especially if they believe a school isn’t implementing an IEP or an IEP is no longer effective. In addition, schools must conduct an annual review meeting.
K-12 students who don’t have an eligible disability under IDEA may qualify for a 504 Plan under Section 504. These plans can include support for extracurricular activities as well as classroom help.
Speech and language disorders aren’t static. With proper support, some students improve their ability to communicate. In these cases, the ability to revise an IEP or 504 Plan is crucial for a student’s ability to succeed in school.
Documentation Example
Los Angeles Unified School District has a dedicated page for speech and language disorders as a special education category. The page includes not just how a student can qualify for support but also provides examples of services students may receive.
College and University Assessment
Colleges and universities face significantly fewer requirements for supporting students with disabilities. They no longer have to identify students with potential disabilities, and students who believe they have a disability must now shoulder the cost of any assessments.
While colleges and universities must follow the law, each sets its policies for requesting disability accommodations. They also have more flexibility in what services and accommodations schools provide. Some even offer different tiers of support. At these schools, legally-required accommodations are free while additional services are available for a fee.
Documentation Example
Most schools have a general policy for how students request accommodations. Some schools list the requirements for specific disabilities.
Eastern Michigan University has a section for how students can request accommodations for speech and language disorders. There are general steps:
- A qualified evaluator assesses the student and provides documentation that meets Eastern Michigan’s criteria
- The documentation must be current. What qualifies as current depends on a student’s specific disability. In some cases, documentation must be less than two years old. In others, it must be less than five. The Disability Resource Center determines what qualifies as current on a case-by-case basis.
- Documentation must be comprehensive. The university provides examples of what information to include.
- Students shouldn’t rely on a qualified assessor’s documentation alone. Students should also plan to submit supporting documentation.
This is just one university’s policy. While many others have similar policies, students shouldn’t assume.
Before enrolling in a college or university, students should schedule a meeting with a school’s disability services office. The purpose of these meetings is for a student to determine if a college or university can adequately support the accommodations they require.
Protect Your Education
At its most basic, education is one person communicating knowledge to another person. Speech and language disorders can make this communication more challenging, but with support, students with these disorders can succeed in school.
The diverse and unique nature of speech and language disorders means that accommodations and support need to be tailored to the individual student. A second consideration is that these accommodations and supports can be modified as a student grows and progresses.
If you or your student has a speech and language disorder, you have a right to accommodations. Problems can arise with assessments, ineffective accommodations, or lack of implementation. Whatever the problem, the Education Law Team at the LLF National Law Firm can help. We focus on education-centered solutions that help keep a student’s goals on track. Contact us at 888-535-3686 or by using this form.