Reply to 504 Plan. Put in place now for a senior? Please help a newbie out.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Our DD is 17. Recently diagnosed with inattentive ADHD as well as a hereditary blood disease. The doctor's office suggested we go about setting up a 504 now with her current school in order to help her with college scholarships. We're concerned that having this officially in her file will hinder her from being accepted into her top schools. Can anyone please provide some advice?[/quote]

You are not obliged to disclose disability when applying for college.  Many colleges ask an essay question on their college application which is some version of "tell us about a time when you overcame a challenge".  Some students with disabilities use this opportunity to describe how their disability has challenged them, how they have learned to overcome that challenge and how it has helped them grow in a positive way.  Presumably this helps some students, as colleges are looking to be diverse in many different kinds of ways and because these students show that this disability challenge has made them more mature and persistent, qualities that colleges desire.

No student is obligated to reveal a disability.  No college may refuse to admit a student based on their disability.  Of course, it is hard to prove why a student is or is not admitted to college. If you have doubts, you can try to get a copy of the admissions application file for your student, which you can ask for under FERPA, to see if there might be any indication there of the reason your student was not admitted, but colleges are unlikely to leave a written trail of evidence for this kind of discrimination.

Even if you do not disclose disability on the college application, once your student is admitted he/she can still ask that the college accommodate the disability, which they are obliged to do under the ADA and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, both of which apply to colleges.  The former applies to all colleges/universities; the latter applies to those that take federal monies, which is, practically speaking, virtually all.

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