Handicapped individual

(a) Handicapped individual means any person who—

(1) Has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities;

(2) Has a record of such an impairment; or

(3) Is regarded as having such an impairment.

(b) As used in the proceeding paragraph of this section, the phrase:

(1) Physical or mental impairment means—

(i) Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genito-urinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine;

(ii) Any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.

(iii) The term physical or mental impairment includes but is not limited to such diseases and conditions as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular distrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental retardation, emotional illness, and drug addiction and alcoholism.

(2) Substantially limits means the degree that the impairment affects an individual becoming a beneficiary of a program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or affects an individual's employability. A handicapped individual who is likely to experience difficulty in securing or retaining benefits or in securing, or retaining, or advancing in employment would be considered substantially limited.

(3) Major life activities means functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, and receiving education or vocational training.

(4) Has a record of such an impairment means that the individual has a history of, or has been misclassified as having, a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more life activity.

(5) Is regarded as having such an impairment means that the individual—

(i) Has a physical or mental impairment that does not substantially limit major life activities but that is treated by a recipient as constituting such a limitation;

(ii) Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities only as a result of the attitudes of others toward such impairment; or

(iii) Has none of the impairments defined in paragraph (b)(1) of this section but is treated by a recipient as having such an impairment.

Program or activity means all of the operations of any entity described in paragraphs (1) through (4) of this definition, any part of which is extended Federal financial assistance:

(1)

(i) A department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or of a local government; or

(ii) The entity of such State or local government that distributes such assistance and each such department or agency (and each other State or local government entity) to which the assistance is extended, in the case of assistance to a State or local government;

(2)

(i) A college, university, or other postsecondary institution, or a public system of higher education; or

(ii) A local educational agency (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801), system of vocational education, or other school system;

(3)

(i) An entire corporation, partnership, or other private organization, or an entire sole proprietorship—

(A) If assistance is extended to such corporation, partnership, private organization, or sole proprietorship as a whole; or

(B) Which is principally engaged in the business of providing education, health care, housing, social services, or parks and recreation; or

(ii) The entire plant or other comparable, geographically separate facility to which Federal financial assistance is extended, in the case of any other corporation, partnership, private organization, or sole proprietorship; or

(4) Any other entity which is established by two or more of the entities described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this definition.

Qualified handicapped individual means:

(a) With respect to employment, an individual with a handicap who is capable of performing the essential functions of the job or jobs for which he or she is being considered with reasonable accommodation to his or her handicap;

(b) With respect to services, a handicapped individual who meets eligibility requirements relevant to the receipt of services provided in the program or activity;

(c) With respect to employment and to employment related training, a handicapped individual who meets both the eligibility requirements for participation in the program or activity and valid job or training qualifications with reasonable accommodation.

Reasonable accommodation means the changes and modifications which can be made in the structure of a job or employment and training, or in the manner in which a job is performed or employment and training is conducted, unless it would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the recipient's program or activity. Reasonable accommodation may include:

(a) Making the facilities used by the employees or participants in the area where the program or activity is conducted, including common areas used by all employees or participants such as hallways, restrooms, cafeterias and lounges, readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons, and

(b) Job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, the provision of readers or interpreters, and other similar actions.

Recipient means any state or its political subdivisions, any instrumentality of a State or its political subdivisions, any public or private agency, institution, organization, or other entity, or any person to which Federal financial assistance is extended directly or through another recipient, including any successor, assignee, or transferee of a recipient, but excluding the ultimate beneficiary of the assistance.

Secretary means the Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor, or his or her designee.

Section 504 means section 504 of the Act.

Small recipient means a recipient who serves fewer than 15 beneficiaries, and employs fewer than 15 employees at all times during a grant year.

United States means the several states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

[45 FR 66709, Oct. 7, 1980, as amended at 61 FR 19985, May 3, 1996; 68 FR 51367, 51368, Aug. 26, 2003]