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Documentation Guidelines for Learning Disabilities*

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Since accommodations are based on the current impact of the learning disability to the student, documentation must be no more than 3 years old.

Qualifications of Diagnostician

Professionals diagnosing LD must have comprehensive training in differential diagnosis & direct experience with adolescents and adults with LD. The following professionals are considered qualified: certified/licensed psychologists, neuropsychologists, LD specialists, and educational therapists. Diagnostic reports should include the names, titles, professional credentials, addresses, and phone numbers of the evaluators as well as the date(s) of testing.

Criteria for Comprehensive Assessment

Testing must include at least one assessment from each of the following areas:

Aptitude

  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R or WAIS-III): Must include Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and all subtest scores.
  • Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability (must include either tests 1-7 or 1-14)
  • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
  • Kaufman Adolescent & Adult Intelligence Test

Achievement: Reading

  • Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Achievement
  • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
  • Stanford Test for Academic Skills
  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
  • Nelson Denny Reading Skills Test
  • Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Revised

Achievement: Mathematics

  • Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised Tests of Achievement
  • Scholastic Abilities Tests for Adults (SATA)
  • Stanford Test of Academic Skills
  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
  • Test of Mathematical Abilities (TOMA)
  • Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test

Achievement: Written Language

  • Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Achievement
  • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
  • Stanford Test of Academic Skills
  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
  • Test of Written Language

Note: The above list is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit assessment in other areas that may be pertinent to the individual’s needs.

The Diagnostics Report

Diagnosis

The report must include a clear statement of the learning disability and the reasoning for this particular diagnosis as supported by the current diagnostic battery. A student’s individual "learning style," "learning deficit," "learning differences," and "learning disorders" do not, in and of themselves, constitute a disability.

Diagnostic Interview

A summary of the diagnostic interview must be included.  Relevant information regarding the student's academic history and learning processes in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education should be addressed.  The summary should also include developmental, medical, psychosocial, and family history as it relates to the student's current level of functioning.

Test Scores

All test scores must be included in the report, especially the standard scores and percentiles. This data should represent a substantial limitation to learning.

Descriptive Text

The report should indicate:

  1. That the evaluator ruled out alternative explanations for the academic problems.
  2. Patterns in the individual’s cognitive abilities, achievement, and information processing reflect the presence of a learning disability.
  3. The substantial limitation to a major life activity and the degree of its impact.

Accommodations

Report must indicate recommended accommodations that are appropriate at the postsecondary level. Specific test results must support these recommendations.

*These guidelines for documentation of a learning disability were based upon the guidelines set forth by the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD).  For more detailed information on these guidelines, please visit AHEAD's web site at http://www.ahead.org.