All students are asked to provide documentation establishing a substantial limitation in a major life activity in order to (1) establish that the individual is a person with a disability and (2) to determine appropriate accommodations. The extent of documentation required may vary depending on the claimed disability and requested accommodations.
All documentation, regardless of source, should contain the following six essential features.
MSSU may request additional documentation even when some supporting documentation has already been provided.
Documentation may be required from more than one professional source in order to clearly identify the need for accommodations for individuals with multiple disabilities. The age of the documentation will vary dependent on the type and nature of the disability. This variance occurs because some disability-related needs are static while others change rapidly. Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) prefers documentation that is not more than three years old. Past accommodations that a student has received will be considered. Individual Education Plans (IEP) and Section 504 plans can serve as appropriate documentation in some circumstances. The Coordinator of Student Disability Services will need to evaluate the school plan to determine if it is sufficient.
Submission of documentation is not the same as the request for services. Request for services and/or accommodations must be initiated by the student once he / she is admitted to MSSU.
Ophthalmologists are the primary professionals involved in diagnosis and medical treatment of individuals who are blind or experience low vision. Optometrists provide information regarding measurement of visual acuity as well as tracking and fusion difficulties (including but not limited to: eye movement disorders, inefficiency in using both eyes together, misalignment of the eyes, lazy eye, focusing problems, visual sensory disorders, and motor integration). Fellows of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development may also provide therapy in treating the above optometric conditions. The diagnostician should be an impartial individual who is not a family member of the student.
Recommended documentation includes:
Services are provided to all Deaf and hard of hearing individuals who have a documented unaided bilateral hearing loss of at least 30 decibels. The audiologist who conducts this should be an impartial individual who is not related to the student.
Recommended documentation includes:
Physical disabilities and systemic illnesses include, but are not limited to: mobility impairments, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, chemical sensitivities, spinal cord injuries, cancer, aids, muscular dystrophy and spinal bifida. Any physical disability and systemic illnesses are considered to be in the medical domain and require the expertise of a physician, including neurologists, psychiatrists or other medical specialists with experience and expertise in the area for which accommodations are being requested. The diagnostician should be an impartial individual who is not a family member to the student.
Recommended documentation includes:
[link to medical documentation form]
Psychiatric and psychological disabilities include but are not limited to: depressive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and disassociative disorders. A diagnosis by a licensed mental health professional including licensed clinical social workers (LCSW), licensed professional counselor (LPC), psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists is required and must include the license number. The diagnostician should be an impartial individual who is not a family member of the student.
Recommended documentation includes:
A clear statement of the disability, including the DSM-IV diagnosis and a summary of present symptoms.
Documentation for eligibility should be current, preferably within the last three years; (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 or percentile scores.
Medical information relating to the student's needs to include the impact of medication on the student's ability to meet the demands of the postsecondary environment.
Further assessment by an appropriate professional may be required if other disabling conditions are indicated. The student and the Coordinator of Student Disability Services collaboratively determine appropriate accommodations.
Head Injury or Traumatic Brain Injury is considered medical or clinical diagnosis. Individuals qualified to render a diagnosis for these disorders are practitioners who have been trained in the assessment of Head Injury or Traumatic Brain Injury. Recommended practitioners may include physicians; neurologists; licensed clinical, rehabilitation, and school psychologists; neuropsychologists and psychiatrists. The diagnostician should be an impartial individual who is not a family member of the student.
Recommended documentation includes:
Although the more generic term Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is frequently used, the official nomenclature used in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) will be used in this document.
All documentation should have the following four features:
1. Documentation must be current.
Since accommodations are based on the current impact of the disability, documentation must be current, preferably within the last three years.
2. The diagnostician must be qualified to diagnose.
Professionals rendering a diagnosis of ADHD must have comprehensive training in differential diagnosis and direct experience working with adolescents and adults with ADHD. The following professionals are considered qualified to evaluate and diagnosis ADHD: clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, and other qualified medical doctors.
3. A comprehensive assessment should be performed.
The following criteria are based on guideline from the Consortium on ADHD Documentation*:
4. Diagnostic Report & Summary
The diagnostic report must be a comprehensive interpretive summary synthesizing the evaluator's judgement for the diagnosis of ADHD. The report must include:
The following guidelines for the documentation of a learning disability are based on the Guidelines for Documentation of a Learning Disability in Adolescents and Adults* and adopted by Missouri Southern State College.
The documentation of a learning disability is based on the diagnostic assessment. Below are the features that should be included in a psychological and educational assessment. In addition, the diagnostic assessment should have been completed within the past three years in order to reflect current functioning.
Diagnostic Interview – an evaluation report should include the summary of a comprehensive diagnostic interview. Relevant information regarding the student's academic history and learning processes in elementary, secondary and postsecondary education should be investigated. The diagnostician, suing professional judgement as to which areas are relevant, should conduct a diagnostic interview which may include: a description of the presenting problem(s); developmental, medical, psycho-social and employment histories; family history (including primary language of the home and the student's current level of English fluency); and a discussion of dual diagnosis where indicated.
Assessment – Evidence of a substantial limitation to learning or other major life activity must be provided.
Testing must include at least one assessment from each of the following areas:
Aptitude
Achievement
Reading
Mathematics
Written Language
****NOTE: The above list is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit assessment in other areas that might be pertinent to the individual's needs.
Specific Diagnosis
The report must include a clear statement of the learning disability, and the rationale for this diagnosis as supported by the current diagnostic battery. Individual "learning styles," "learning differences," "learning deficits," and "learning disorders" do not, in and of themselves, constitute a disability.
4. Test Scores
Standard scores and/or percentiles should be provided for all normed measures. Grade equivalents are not useful unless standard scores and/or percentiles are also included. The data should logically reflect a substantial limitation to learning for which the student is requesting an accommodation. The particular profile of the student's strengths and weaknesses must be shown to relate functional limitations that may necessitate accommodations.
The test used should be reliable, valid and standardized for use with an adolescent/adult population. The test findings should document both the nature and severity of the learning disability. Informal inventories surveys and direct observation by a qualified professional may be used in tandem with formal tests in order to further develop clinical hypothesis.
5. Clinical Summary
Assessment instruments and the data they provide do not diagnose; rather, they provide important elements that must be integrated by the evaluator with background information, observations of the client during the testing situation, and the current context. It is essential, therefore, that professional judgement be utilized in the development of a clinical summary. The clinical summary should include:
Demonstrate that the evaluator ruled out alternative explanations for the academic problems
That patterns in the individual's cognitive abilities, achievement, and information processing reflect the presence of a learning disability.
The substantial limitation to a major life activity and the degree of impact.
6. The Diagnostician
Professionals conducting assessments and rendering diagnosis of specific learning disabilities must be qualified to do so. Trained and certified and/or licensed psychologists, neuropsychologists, learning disability specialists, and educational therapists are considered qualified to evaluate specific learning disabilities. Diagnostic reports should include the names, titles, professional credentials, addresses, and phone numbers of the evaluators as well as the date(s) of testing.
* Guidelines for Documentation of a Learning Disability in Adolescents and Adults
Association of Higher Education and Disability (1997)
