Section 504
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) is a one-sentence civil rights law that prohibits agencies that receive federal funding from discriminating against persons with disabilities on the basis of that disability. Several federal Department of Education regulations specifically tell schools how to implement Section 504 requirements.
The main emphasis in the schools is equal educational opportunity, which is mainly accomplished by providing appropriate classroom accommodations to eligible students with disabilities that are not severe enough to qualify for special education, but which are substantially limiting their learning or other major life activities. Eligible students are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in school extracurricular and non-academic activities.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
The International Dyslexia Association
Dyslexia Common Risk Factors
Preschool-Third Grade:
- Failure to understand that words are made up of parts or individual sounds
- Difficulty learning the letter names and their corresponding sound
- Difficulty reading single words in isolation
- Choppy and labored reading
- Difficulty spelling phonetically
Fourth Grade-High School:
- History of reading and spelling difficulties
- Difficulty reading aloud
- Avoids reading for pleasure
- Difficulty learning a foreign language
Post-Secondary:
- Difficulty with spoken vocabulary
- Difficulty completing the reading demands for multiple course requirements