University Violated Law by Refusing Disabled Student to Live in Dorms

posted on Dec 29 by Stacy in the Disability Law, Disability News, Wheelchair Accessibility category

U.S District Judge Patrick J. Duggan recently ruled that Oakland University violated federal law by refusing to allow a disabled student to live in a campus dorm. After a two year battle to live on campus, the 25-year-old Huntington Woods student will move to the dorms in January.
In the fall of 2007, Oakland University student Micah Fialka-Feldman was looking forward to moving into an on campus dorm. Right before he was set to move in, the college withdrew the housing offer saying that he was not eligible because he was not enrolled in a required degree granting program. Fialka-Feldman’s cognitive impairment hinders his ability to read and write, and for that reason he takes classes at Oakland that are designed for college students with cognitive disabilities. Fialka-Feldman pays a fee that is equal to the cost of tuition, and does not earn grades.
The program that he is a part of, called OPTIONS, teaches students the skills to find a job and live independently after college. Hopefully this settlement will make it easier for other OPTIONS students to live on campus, too.

More at The Detroit News