Disability rights
When the door, the form or the room is the barrier
Public schools, city and county offices, transit, courthouses and businesses open to the public must be usable by people with disabilities. When they are not, the law gives you a way to ask for the change.
Most of these matters begin with a letter that names the barrier and asks for a specific fix. Many are settled there. Some need a lawsuit, and some need only a visit with an access consultant and a deadline.
We bring claims for people who were kept out and for families whose children were. We do not file claims for the sake of filing, and we say so when a simple conversation would do more.
Where the barrier is
Schools and school districts
Hearings, accommodations, discipline and facilities that shut out a student or a parent.
Buildings and spaces
Entrances, restrooms, parking and counters that someone cannot reach or use.
Programs, forms and websites
Deadlines, notices and online systems that assume everyone can see, hear, read or click.
Disability benefit claims
Not ours. Lawyers who handle Social Security and VA appeals every day do this better, and we will refer you.
Questions about access
Do I have to ask for the change first?
Usually it helps, and sometimes the law requires it. We can write the request so it names the barrier and the fix, and so there is a record.
Can you sue over a building?
Some claims seek a repair and not money. In some cases the law lets a court order the change and the other side to pay legal fees. We explain which applies to yours.
Is this the same as special education?
They are related and separate. If your child’s school is the problem, tell us what it did, and we will tell you which route fits.
Tell us where you were kept out.
The place, the date and what you asked for. Photographs of the barrier help.