Documentation of Disability
Requirements
To be eligible for disability-related services, students must have a documented disability condition as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under these federal regulations, a person has a disability if he/she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of his/her major life activities; has a record of such impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment.
Further, a qualified individual with a disability means an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity.
A person with a disability includes but is not
limited to: who has one or more physical or mental
impairments resulting from amputation, arthritis, autism, blindness, burn
injury, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, deafness, head injury,
heart disease, hemiplegia, hemophilia, respiratory or pulmonary dysfunction,
cognitive disability, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy,
musculo-skeletal disorders, neurological disorders (including stroke and
epilepsy), paraplegia, quadriplegia, and other spinal cord conditions,
sickle cell anemia, specific learning disability, end-stage renal
disease, or another disability or combination of disabilities determined
on the basis of an assessment by a qualified professional.
In general, the documentation should:
- Be provided by a licensed professional, qualified in the appropriate specialty area; the report should be on letterhead, dated and signed.
- Include both diagnostic information and an explanation of the current
functional limitations of the condition. It should be thorough
enough to indicate whether or not a major life activity is "substantially
limited," that is, it should explain what the extent, duration,
and impact of the condition is. Major life activities include
but are not limited to: working, communicating, walking, taking care
of one’s
personal needs, seeing, hearing and learning.
- In most cases, it should be relatively recent. A suggested
guideline is less than 5 years old. Documentation of conditions that
are permanent or non-varying (e.g., a sensory disability) may not need
to be as recent, but some chronic and/or changing conditions require
information to be even more current than 5 years to provide an accurate
picture of functioning.
- Be detailed enough to support the accommodations that are being
requested. Accommodations are determined by assessing the impact of the person’s
disability on academic or work performance.
- For a variable or progressive condition, include the degree and
range of functioning.
- Address the impact of medication or other treatments on major life
activities.
Guidelines for Specific Disability Documentation
Last Modified:
January 12, 2007
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