Documentation Guidelines

Overview

Students who request accommodations must have a documented disability condition as defined by the amended Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under the ADA and Section 504, a person has a disability if he or she has, had a record of, or is regarding as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (such as walking, standing, seeing, speaking, hearing, sitting, breathing, reading, learning, thinking, performing manual tasks, taking care of oneself).

Documentation Requirements

Students requesting disability-related accommodations through the DRC are required to provide current (within the last five years) diagnostic documentation from a licensed clinical professional familiar with the history and functional implications of their respective disabilities.

Disability documentation must adequately verify the nature and extent of the disability in accordance with current professional standards and techniques, and it must clearly substantiate the need for all of the student’s specific accommodation requests. Please note that IEPs are generally not considered appropriate documentation, but can be used as supplemental information.

Students are strongly encouraged to use the DRC's Disability Verification Form. All other documentation must be submitted on the official letterhead of the professional describing the disability. The report cannot be hand-written. It should be dated and signed and include the name, title, and professional credentials of the evaluator, including information about license or certification. In general, it is not acceptable for such documentation to include a diagnosis or testing performed by a member of the student’s family.

Additionally, students requesting accommodations for the manifestations of multiple disabilities must provide evidence of all such conditions.

All Documentation Must Include:

  • An identification of the disability(s).
  • An assessment of how the disability(s) impair your functioning or participation.
  • Recommendations as to how the disability(s) may be best accommodated.

Specific Documentation Required for Certain Disabilities

Students requesting accommodations related to certain disabilities must provide additional documentation. The disabilities and required documentation are described below.

Deaf and Hard of hearing

  • An audiological evaluation and/or audiogram.
  • An interpretation of the functional implications of the diagnostic data and hearing aid evaluation, when appropriate.

Low vision or blindness

  • An ocular assessment or evaluation from an ophthalmologist.
  • A low-vision evaluation of residual visual function, when appropriate.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) or brain insult

  • A thorough neuropsychological evaluation (from a neuropsychologist) which assesses the impaired area(s), which may include attention, visuoperception/visual reasoning, language, academic skills, memory/learning, executive function, sensory, motor, and emotional status. Data should include subtest scores and percentiles.

Psychiatric disability

  • A specific, current psychiatric diagnosis as per the DSM-5 which indicates the nature, frequency and severity of the symptoms upon which the diagnosis was predicated. Documentation must be from a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, primary care physician or licensed clinical social worker.
  • Prescribed medications, dosages and schedules which may influence accommodations.

Attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADHD)

  • Evidence of alternative diagnoses being ruled out. The documentation must investigate and discuss the possibility of dual diagnoses and alternative or coexisting mood, behavioral, neurological and/or personality disorders that may confound the ADHD diagnosis.
  • An indication of whether or not the student was evaluated while on medication, and whether or not the prescribed treatment produced a positive response.

Learning disability

  • A comprehensive assessment battery must contain the following domains:
    Aptitude/Cognitive Ability: An assessment of global intellectual functioning as measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) with all subtests and standard scores.
  • Academic Achievement: A comprehensive achievement battery (e.g., Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery – Revised: Tests of Achievement) with subtest and standard scores, indicating current level of functioning in the academic areas of reading, math, oral and written language.
  • Information Processing: A comprehensive battery (e.g. Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery – Revised: Tests of Cognitive Abilities) with subtest and standard scores which addresses the specific areas of short and long-term memory, sequential memory, auditory and visual perception, processing speed, executive functioning, and motor ability.