Disability Services Documentation Standards
Students requesting assistance from Disability Services must provide current documentation of their disability. This documentation is necessary because assessment constitutes the basis for determining reasonable services and accommodations. At times, the college also examines diagnostic information when determining the appropriateness of academic adjustments for a given student. Both the student and the college are well-served by assessment that clearly substantiates the appropriateness of various responses to a students needs or requests. In addition, the assessment should report how the students disability has interfered with educational achievement. Appropriate documentation should meet three criteria:
- The documentation must be comprehensive and
include a clear diagnostic statement. Documentation regarding the
disability should include a description of the assessment tools used to render
the diagnosis as well as all test and subtest scores.
For most physical disabilities, comprehensive documentation would include the results of a medical examination with specific regard to the disability. For example, a student with a visual impairment should submit the results of a visual screening performed by an eye doctor.
For psychological disabilities, comprehensive documentation would include the psychological assessment tools and the results of psychological testing. Particularly with psychological disabilities, it is helpful for the diagnostician to comment on the severity and frequency of the disability. For example, a student with depression should submit the results of a psychological report including the assessment tools used to diagnosis depression, the frequency of depressive episodes, and severity of the depression.
For learning disabilities, comprehensive documentation must identify a significant discrepancy between achievement and ability or an intra-cognitive discrepancy not attributable to other disabling conditions or to environmental deprivation. More than one assessment device should be administered for the purpose of diagnosing a learning disability. Testing must address, at the minimum, the aptitude, achievement, and information processing abilities of the student. The testing must also include a clear diagnostic statement. Individual learning styles and learning differences do not by themselves constitute a specific learning disability. For example, a student with a learning disability would submit documentation which might include results from the WISC-R concerning aptitude, the Woodcock-Johnson concerning achievement, and comments regarding the subtests of the WISC-R concerning information processing.
- Documentation must be current and
reflect the student’s present needs and level of functioning. Assessment documentation should be
within the past three to five years whenever possible and should reflect the
needs of the adult student.
Documentation from early childhood or adolescence is generally not
acceptable. However, documentation from
early adulthood which exceeds five years will be accepted provided that it
accurately reflects the student’s current needs and level of functioning.
- Professionals conducting assessments and rendering diagnoses of disabilities must be qualified to do so. Experience in working with an adult population is essential. Diagnostic reports must be submitted on the letterhead of the qualified professional and must include the names, titles, and license numbers of the evaluators as well as the date(s) of testing.
The following guidelines are available in Microsoft Word format:
- General Guidelines for Documentation of a Disability
- Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) Documentation Guidelines
- Learning Disability Documentation Guidelines
- Psychiatric/Psychological Disabilities Documentation Guidelines