Chapter 3 – Documentation Requirements

The SAR Center considers recommendations from providers and works together via an interactive process with the student to determine reasonable accommodations.

This includes consideration of the course design, course learning outcomes, and barriers experienced by the disabled student. The process works best when SAR Center staff can review documentation, especially for students with non-visible disabilities, prior to an initial meeting. A conversation with the student regarding impacts or barriers may suffice; however, we may require additional documentation.

Information About Documentation

  1. Documentation is not intended to put a student in the position of proving their disability and is typically less necessary when a student's condition is apparent.
  2. Documentation will not become part of the student's educational records and will be kept in the student's online file in the SAR Student Portal.
  3. Regardless of the documentation submitted, students' approved accommodations and services may differ from high school to college because the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvements Act (IDEA) does not apply at the university level. For additional information, please see relevant laws governing accommodations.
    • Regardless of the documentation submitted, students' approved accommodations and services may differ from one college to another and will not automatically transfer as accommodations are different at each institution or may have different eligibilities.

Examples of documentation that may suffice for accommodations at the university level:

  1. Letter from a provider signed, dated, and on letterhead
  2. Self-report on the SAR Center Application or via conversation with a SAR Center specialist during the intake
  3. An Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan
  4. Information about accommodations from a previous postsecondary institution
  5. MyChart and/or MyHealtheVet notes that only identifies the medical condition

Documentation letters should be provided by a qualified, licensed professional whose field of specialization directly pertains to the student's disability and who is unrelated to the student.

  1. Documentation needs to be provided in English, and if translation is required, it must be completed by a certified translator.
  2. The student is responsible for any costs related to obtaining additional documentation if the initial documentation is incomplete, insufficient, or inadequate.

Documentation that is most beneficial to the SAR Center:

  1. Has been completed by a provider who has a therapeutic relationship with the student and/or has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the student;
  2. Articulates the history of any prior services, medications, or other supports received by the student as well as the effectiveness or limitations of these prior supports;
  3. Describes the functional limitations the student experiences in an educational environment; and
    • References a diagnosis, even if provisional, of the student's condition, including any rule-out conditions or changes over time.

Accommodation-Specific Documentation

Additional information may be needed for memory aids, flexibility with attendance, assignments, bachelor core substitutions, calculators, spell check, etc.

A complete educational evaluation is preferred over a letter. The educational evaluation should be completed by a qualified professional(s) and include the following:

  1. A clear statement and explanation of the diagnosis and/or functional impacts. Statements that the student has a "learning difficulty" or "learns differently" are often not, by themselves, sufficient.
  2. Scores from the tests administered using age-based norms. The battery of tests used should contain widely accepted instruments such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Fourth Edition, the Woodcock Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Ability and Achievement, etc. If impacts pertain to memory, additional information may be needed. See the following section.
  3. Rationale for recommended academic accommodations showing a clear relationship to the student's disability-related impacts. This is especially critical if the accommodation being requested includes course requirement substitutions or memory aids.

Tests of intellectual or cognitive functioning may be requested to identify memory issues, cognitive “fuzziness” or brain fog, etc.

Here is a list of some of the most common tests, but there are others that can be used.

  1. A test used to measure intellectual ability, including scores and subtest scores
  2. IQ tests:
    1. Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test
    2. Stanford Binet 4th Edition
    3. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV (WAIS-IV)
    4. Woodcock-Johnson IV General Intellectual Ability (GIA)
    5. Test of Non-verbal Intelligence – (TONI-4)
  3. A test used to measure academic achievement, including scores and subtest scores.
  4. Acceptable Achievement Tests:
    1. Nelson-Denny Reading Test
    2. Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
    3. Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – II (WIAT-II)
    4. Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement
    5. Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests – Revised
    6. Test of Written Language – 4 (TOWL-4)
    7. Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test
  5. Attention, Memory, and Learning Tests
    1. Brown Attention Deficit Disorder Scale
    2. California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II)
    3. Detroit Test of Adult Learning Aptitude (DTLA-A)
    4. Detroit Test of Learning Aptitude -4 (DLTA-4)
    5. Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery
    6. Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA+Plus)
    7. Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test – Third Edition (RBMT-3)
    8. Scales of Cognitive Ability for Traumatic Brain Injury (SCATBI)
    9. Test of Variable Attention (TOVA)
    10. WAIS IV Working Memory Index (WMS)
    11. Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning - Second Edition (WRAML-2)
    12. Wechsler Memory Scales IV