Visual 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 visual disability must include: 

• An ophthalmologist’s clear statement of vision-related disability with supporting numerical description that reflects the current impact the blindness or vision loss has on the student's functioning, including the extent of the student’s visual fields and the degree of his or her visual acuity (the age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon the disabling condition, the current status of the student and the student's request for accommodations);
• A summary of assessment procedures and evaluation instruments used to make the diagnosis and a summary of evaluation results including standardized scores;
• Present symptoms that meet the criteria for diagnosis;
• Medical information relating to the student's needs and the status of the individual's vision (static or changing) and its impact on the demands of the academic program or residential life;
• Narrative or descriptive text providing both quantitative and qualitative information about the student's abilities which might be helpful in understanding the student's profile including the use of corrective lenses and ongoing visual therapy (if appropriate);
• A statement of the functional impact or limitations of the disability on learning or other major life activity and the degree to which it impacts the individual in the context of the academic and residential life settings.
• Specific recommendations for accommodations and services that would facilitate the student’s reasonable and appropriate access to the College’s academic programs and residential life settings, including rationale for each accommodation.