DOCUMENTATION GUIDELINES
(adapted from
Virginia Higher Education, Guidelines for Documentation of
Disability)
Under federal law (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and
the American with Disabilities Act of 1990), individuals with
disabilities are defined as having “a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities
of such individual; a record of such impairment, or being regarded
as having such an impairment.” Individuals with disabilities are
protected from discrimination in admissions and employment. With
adequate documentation of the current impact of the disability,
individuals are entitled to appropriate accommodations. Therefore,
documentation serves two primary purposes in post-secondary
education. First, documentation must establish that the
individual has a disability, and therefore is protected from
discrimination. Second, the documentation must
describe the current functional impact of the disability so that
potential accommodations can be identified.
DOCUMENTATION
GUIDELINES:
Students must disclose and submit documentation of their
disability to the College before accommodations will be provided.
For Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity
Disorder, documentation must be within the last 3 years.
For Psychological Disabilities, documentation must be within the
past year and reevaluated annually or as needed warranted by the
request of accommodations. For Medical, mobility and sensory
impairments, the age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon
the disabling condition, the current status of the student and the
student's request for accommodations.
Documentation
must Include a clear statement of the diagnosis, the basis for the
diagnosis, and the current impact of the disability as it relates to
the accommodation request. As appropriate to the disability, the
documentation should include the following elements:
1. A diagnostic statement identifying the disability, date of the
most current diagnostic evaluation, and the date of the original
diagnosis.
2. A description of the diagnostic tests, methods, and/or criteria
used including specific test results (including standardized testing
scores) and the examiner's narrative interpretation.
3. A description of the current functional impact of the disability.
This may be in the form of an examiner's narrative, and/or an
interview, but must have a rational relationship to diagnostic
assessments. For learning disabilities, current documentation is
defined using adult norms.
4. A statement indicating treatments, medications, or assistive
devices/services currently prescribed or in use, with a description
of the mediating effects and potential side effects from such
treatments.
5. A description of the expected progression or stability of the
impact of the disability over time, particularly the next five
years.
6. A history of previous accommodations and their impact.
7. The credentials of the diagnosing professional (s), if not clear
from the letterhead or other forms. Please note that diagnosing
professionals shall not be family members or others with a close
personal relationship with the individual being evaluated.
8. Documentation prepared for specific non-educational venues (i.e.
Social Security Administration, or Department of Veteran's Affairs,
etc.) may not meet these criteria.
9. IEP or 504 plans will not be considered sufficient documentation
unless accompanied by a current and complete evaluation.
10. Recommendations for accommodations, adaptive devices, assistive
services, compensatory strategies, and/or collateral support
services should be considered within the context of the individual's
current program. Accommodation decisions are to be made on a
case-by-case basis, considering the impact of a particular student's
disability within the specific context in which that student must
function.
Guidelines are developed by the Association on Higher Education and
Disability (AHEAD) and the Educational Testing Serviced (ETS). These
are referenced below for informational purposes.
AHEAD (Learning Disability guidelines) –
www.ahead.org/publications/guidelines.html
ETS (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder guidelines) -
www.ets.org/disability/adhdplcy.html
ETS (Psychiatric Disability guidelines) –
www.ets.org/disability/psyplcy.html
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