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Documentation for Students with Learning Disabilities||
Documentation for Students with ADD/ADHD ||
Documentation for Students with Psychological Disabilities
Guidelines for Disability Documentation
Depending upon the disability, documentation should be as current as possible (within 3 years). In addition, assessments and evaluations of functional limitations should be age appropriate e.g. for learning disabilities).
Documentation for any disability should include as much of the following as possible:
- Diagnosis of disability, including clinical history that establishes the onset, or date of diagnosis, of the disability as well as duration and/or prognosis
- Procedures used to diagnose, evaluate, and/or assess the disability
- Description of any medical and/or behavioral symptoms associated with the disability
- Identification of medications, and side effects, that could significantly impact the student in an academic environment
- Statement specifying functional limitations caused by the particular disability
- Any recommended accommodations, including rationale, associated with the identified functional limitations
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Guidelines for the Documentation of Students with Learning Disabilities
Students seeking accommodations for learning disabilities need to provide current (within the last three years), thorough, psycho-educational assessment documentation which provides a specific diagnosis. Assessment providers include licensed psychologists, neurologists experienced in educational problems, or a learning disabilities specialist with credentials allowing the interpretation of the required assessment instruments.
Diagnostic testing should be comprehensive and include a test from each category:
- Aptitude (for example: WAIS-Revision 3)
- Achievement (Woodcock Johnson-Revised: Tests of Achievement)
- Information processing (Woodcock Johnson Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability; Wechsler Memory Scales)
The report should include:
The date of the examination, the clinician's name, title, license number, telephone number, and address
A summary of educational, medical, and family histories along with behavioral observations
A summary of the results of all instruments used in the assessment including standard scores, subtest scores, percentiles, and a detailed interpretation of the results including strengths and weaknesses
Clearly described intracognitive and/or aptitude-achievement discrepancies and the clinician's rationale for the diagnosis
Statement of how the learning disability substantially interferes with the student's educational progress, functional limitations, along with recommendations for appropriate accommodations
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Guidelines for the Documentation of Students with ADD/ADHD
Students seeking accommodations for ADD/ADHD need to provide current (within the last three years), thorough, psycho-educational assessment documentation which provides a specific diagnosis. Assessment providers include licensed psychologists, neurologists experienced in educational problems, or a learning disabilities specialist with credentials allowing the interpretation of the required assessment instruments.
- Procedures used to diagnose the disability, including a list of all assessment instruments
- Discussion of testing results and behavior, including the symptoms that meet the criteria for
- Diagnosis (if medication was a factor in the assessment, please indicate the effects it may have had on performance)
- DSM-IV, including all five axes
- Summary statement addressing substantial limitations caused by this condition, recommended medications for the student, and recommended accommodations in an academic environment
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Guidelines for Documentation of Students with a Psychological Disability
Students seeking accommodations for a psychological or psychiatric disability are to follow these guidelines in order for the University to make sound decisions and to provide appropriate services:
To provide accommodations to students with psychological or psychiatric disabilities, the University requires that a student provide verification of his/her disability prior to or at the time services are requested.
A comprehensive written evaluation must have been completed within the past year, but exceptions dependent upon individual circumstances may be necessary. Telephone calls and brief letters, which document past or ongoing treatments, are not sufficient. Evaluators should have experience with a college-age population and include psychologists, psychiatrists, and licensed social workers.
The comprehensive evaluation should include the following:
- Multi-axial DSM IV diagnosis (including date of diagnosis)
- Psychological test results used to support the diagnosis.
- Summary of treatment (as it relates to the disability and the need for accommodations).
- Current medications (including dosage and side effects).
- Evaluation of ability to function in a demanding college environment, which requires independent, social functioning.
- Recommendations for continued treatment.
- Recommendations for academic and other accommodations. Each recommended accommodation should include a detailed explanation of its relevance to the disability that is diagnosed. The evaluator also should indicate the level at which the individual is currently functioning with the benefit of treatment.
- The time period for which academic accommodations are recommended.
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