Documentation Requirements for Academic Accommodations

Disability documentation must adequately verify the nature and extent of the disability in accordance with current professional standards, and it must clearly show the need for each of your requested accommodations. Documentation must be from a qualified professional who is licensed or certified to diagnose the disability in question. All tests used to document eligibility must be technically sound and standardized, and all documentation should be recent enough to reflect the student's current disability-related impacts in the academic/living environment. 

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Qualified professional: 

Documentation should be completed by a qualified professional, such as a treating or diagnosing health or mental health provider who has an established therapeutic relationship with the student. 

Documentation from a family member is NOT acceptable. 

Examples:

Documentation must contain the following: 

• The documentation must be on letterhead and must be dated, signed, and include the evaluator's name, address, telephone number and professional credentials. 

• A specific diagnostic statement identifying the disability, including severity and date of current diagnostic evaluation. 

• Specific findings which support this diagnosis, including relevant history, tests administered, test results, and interpretation of those test results. 

• Length of condition(s) and expected duration. 

• Information concerning the impact of the disability in the educational setting, including a description of the physical and/or cognitive functional limitations due to the disability. 

• For psychological disabilities, evaluation and documentation should be within the last six months unless the condition is one that has stabilized. 

• For LD or ADD/ADHD diagnosis (assessments normed for adults are preferred), please review page 4 of the DAS Documentation Form. 

• Medication(s) being used and side effects experienced by the student. 

• Accommodations or services to address the functional impact(s) of the disability. 

• Any other helpful information for working with this student. 

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Insufficient Documentation: 

• An IEP or 504 Plan is not sufficient documentation in and of itself but can be included as part of a more comprehensive evaluative report. 

• Information about accommodations at a previous postsecondary institution is not sufficient documentation in and of itself but can be included as part of a more comprehensive evaluative report. 

• Profile of academic strengths and weaknesses and how these relate to the academic limitation(s) is not sufficient documentation in and of itself but can be included as part of a more comprehensive evaluative report. 

• A doctor’s prescription pad note is not sufficient documentation. 

• Medical records only identifying the medical condition with no information about impacts in the postsecondary environment is not sufficient documentation. 

If the original documentation is incomplete or inadequate to determine the extent of the disability or reasonable accommodation, DAS may, at its discretion, require additional documentation. The student is responsible for any costs related to obtaining additional documentation. 

You can download a copy of the DAS Verification Form off our website to have your provider fill out as supporting documentation.

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Specific Learning Disabilities 

A comprehensive psycho-educational assessment from a psychologist or learning disabilities specialist that includes the following: (Must be normed for adults) 

• A clear statement of the specific learning disability with the DSM-V diagnosis. 

• A test used to measure intellectual ability, including scores and subtest scores 

• Acceptable IQ tests: Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test, Stanford Binet 4th Edition, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV (WAIS-IV), Woodcock-Johnson IV General Intellectual Ability (GIA). 

• Not acceptable: Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT), Slosson Intelligence Test, Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – III (WISC-III). 

• A test used to measure academic achievement, including scores and subtest scores. 

• Acceptable achievement tests: Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA), Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – II (WIAT-II), Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement, Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests – Revised. 

• Not acceptable: Wide Range Achievement Test – 4 (WRAT-4). 

• A test used to measure processing ability, including scores and subtest scores. 

• Acceptable processing tests: Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities 

• Clinical summary 

ADD/ADHD Guidelines 

• A comprehensive assessment from a qualified professional should include the following: 

• A test used to measure intellectual ability, including scores and subtest scores 

• Acceptable IQ tests: Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test, Stanford Binet 4th Edition, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV (WAIS-IV), Woodcock-Johnson IV General Intellectual Ability (GIA). 

• Not acceptable: Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT), Slosson Intelligence Test, Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – III (WISC-III). 

• A test used to measure academic achievement, including scores and subtest scores. 

• Acceptable achievement tests: Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA), Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – II (WIAT-II), Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement, Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests – Revised. 

• Not acceptable: Wide Range Achievement Test – 4 (WRAT-4). 

• A test used to measure processing ability, including scores and subtest scores. 

• Acceptable processing tests: Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities 

• Clinical Summary 

• It might also include some of the following checklists: 

• Clinical Assessment of Attention Deficit Adult (CAT-A) 

• Barkley Home and School Situations Questionnaires and Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV) 

• Vanderbilt Assessment Scales 

• AHRQ Technical Review: Diagnosis of AD/HD 

• Conners Rating Scales 

Documentation Requirements for Housing/ESA Accommodations

The student will need to submit an application for Housing/ESA Accommodations Application and either a Housing Verification Form or an ESA Verification Form when applying for accommodations. The student will then participate in an interactive interview to discuss supporting documentation and barriers the Housing Accommodation or the Emotional Support Animal will mitigate. Specific information that should be included in supporting documentation includes:

1. a) whether the student has a physical or mental impairment
2. b) whether the student’s impairment substantially limits a major life activity or major bodily function;
3. c) whether the student needs the emotional support animal either because it performs works or tasks for the student with the disability or because it provides therapeutic emotional support to alleviate a symptom or effect of the disability and is not merely a pet; and
4. d) the healthcare professional must sign and date the document verifying their licensure and credentials.

1. Reasonable supporting documentation is defined as coming from a licensed healthcare professional (examples include, physician, optometrist, psychiatrist, psychologist, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse), and that is general to the person with a disability but specific to the individual and the therapeutic or emotional support provided by the housing accommodation or the emotional support animal.
2. In regard to Emotional Support Animal requests, documentation from the Internet is not by itself sufficiently reliable to establish that a healthcare professional has a relationship with the student or verify that a student has a non-observable disability or a disability related need for an emotional support animal.
3. The healthcare professional providing the supporting documentation must have personal knowledge of the student as their client/patient when issuing the supporting documentation.