Learning Disability Guidelines

When requesting an academic, housing, or dining accommodation, you must provide written documentation of your disability. Your information will be kept confidential and will be used only to determine your eligibility for accommodation or services, and the type of accommodations or level of service required.

Requirements for all documentation:

• Must be current (within one year)
• Prepared by a qualified impartial professional (e.g., a psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychiatrist, or other relevantly trained medical doctor), who is not a family member)
• Typed on official letterhead, which must include the professional's name, license/certification/degree, area of specialization, employment, address, phone, signature, and date
• Includes recommendation for compensations and services to assist the student

In addition, your documentation for a learning disability must include:

• Current testing (e.g. adult level testing- if head injuries have occurred since the last adult level testing, additional testing may be required)
• Diagnostic interview (including the presenting problem, symptoms and behaviors; developmental, academic, family, and relevant medical history)
• Assessment (Neuropsychological or psycho-educational assessment results which meet diagnostic criteria for specific disability, including evaluation instruments/procedures utilized in assessing the following fields, but must not be based on any one test/subtest):  aptitude/Cognitive Ability (with all subtests, standard scores and percentiles, e.g. WAIS-R, WAIS-IV, Woodcock Johnson, Psychoeducational Battery Revised, WJ-R or WJ-III, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test)  Academic Achievement (with all subtests, standard scores, percentiles, and grade equivalents in reading, decoding and comprehension, mathematics, and oral and written language)
• Alternative Diagnoses/Evaluations Ruled Out (e.g. consideration of medical, psychiatric, educational, and cultural factors)
• Documentation must include a clear, specific diagnosis (statement of learning disability and degree of severity). Nonspecific diagnoses are not acceptable; e.g. “suggests,” “is indicative of,” learning deficit,” learning difference,” etc.
• Prognosis of the condition
• Discussion of the extent to which the learning disability substantially limits the student’s performance in an academic setting.
• Recommendations for educational compensation strategies, as appropriate.
• Recommended accommodations in the post-secondary setting with rationale for each specified.