Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
According to these laws, no otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of a public entity.
"Qualified" with respect to post secondary educational services, means "a person who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the education program or activity, with or without reasonable modification to rules, policies or practices; the removal of architectural, communication or transportation barriers; or the provision of auxiliary aids and services."
"Person with a disability" means "any person" who:
- has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major activities [including walking, seeing, breathing, learning, and working],
- has a record of such an impairment, or
- is regarded as having such an impairment.
Disabilities covered by legislation include (but are not limited to) AIDS, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Diabetes, Epilepsy, head injuries, hearing impairments, specific learning disabilities, loss of limbs, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, psychiatric disorders, speech impairments, spinal cord injuries, and visual impairments.