Disability Documentation Requirements

Students with disabilities should make their needs known to the Services for Students with Disabilities(SSD) Office as soon as possible so that arrangements for accommodations can be initiated. Students will be required to submit medical and/or other diagnostic disability documentation that supports the specific request prior to receiving accommodations. Providing documentation of a disability is the responsibility of the student.

Documentation should be recent, relevant and comprehensive. If the original documentation is incomplete or inadequate to determine the nature and extent of the disability or to support the request for accommodations, the University has the discretion to require additional documentation.

Documentation Guidelines:

To facilitate the provision of appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire requires the following information be contained within disability documentation reports:

1. Documentation must include a Specific Diagnosis of a Disability. (Nonspecific diagnoses, such as individual "learning styles," "learning differences," "academic problems," "slow reader," "test anxiety," etc. in and of themselves do not constitute a disability.) The diagnostician is encouraged to use direct language and avoid the use of such terms as "suggests" or "is indicative of.
   
   
2. Diagnosis must be provided by a licensed professional qualified to determine the specific diagnosis. Use of diagnostic terminology indicating a disability by someone whose training and experience are not in these fields is not acceptable.
   
   
3. Documentation must be current (within three years or more recent if the effects of the disability and/or medication treatments are variable.)
   
   
4. Documentation must clearly identify the impact of the disability on a major life activity (i.e. learning) and the individual's functional limitations.
   
   
5. Documentation provided must clearly link the functional limitations of the disability to the recommended accommodations. The documentation should describe the student's academic strengths and weaknesses and be based on educational assessment procedures. (Recommended accommodations that are not supported by relevant assessment information cannot be guaranteed.)
   
   
6. Documentation must include a listing of all formal and informal tests/procedures administered and the specific results of those tests. (Include standard scores, quotients and percentiles, if available, for each test administered; clinical observations/interview; rating scale results, etc.)

If an evaluator or diagnostician has questions about the specific type(s) of documentation required, they are encouraged to contact:
UW-Eau Claire Services for Students with Disabilities Office
Kathleen Hurley, Director
(715) 836-4542

Provided below are documentation forms that can be printed for your convenience. These documentation requirements are based on recommendations from the Educational Testing Service Policy Statement for Documentation of Disabilities in Adolescents and Adults http://www.ets.org/.

Disability Documentation Forms

Documents are in PDF format. You will need Adobe Reader to open files.

• Learning Disability Documentation form
• Attention Deficit Disorder Documentation form
• Psychological Disability Documentation Requirements
• Visual, Hearing, Medical and/or Mobility Impairment Documentation Requirements

Complete information packets containing the necessary forms can also be mailed to you by submitting a request to:

Services for Students with Disabilities University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Park and Garfield, P.O. Box 4004 Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004 Phone: 715 836-4542 Fax: 715-836-3712 hurleyks@uwec.edu