1. 1 A Dynamic Roadmap: Navigating Evolving Documentation Standards for LD & ADHD Under the ADAAA

2. THE guidelines 1997 AHEAD Guidelines for Documentation of a Learning Disability in Adolescents and Adults –Qualifications of the evaluator –Diagnostic interview –Assessment: aptitude, achievement, information processing –Specific diagnosis –Test scores –Clinical summary –Recommendations for accommodations 2

3. Beginning the journey Focus of documentation review was on: –the completeness of the testing –date of the testing Focus was not on: –history and anecdotal information –student self-report 3

4. Documentation Checklist, circa 1997 4

5. Benefits to 1997 guidelines Thorough review of a student’s strengths and weaknesses Data about current functional limitations, which allowed the approval of a complete set of reasonable accommodations Meeting the requirements for high stakes testing agencies for graduate entrance exams 5

6. EASIER 6

7. Documentation commonly denied when Qualifications of evaluator were missing Documentation was not recent A full and comprehensive assessment was not provided Standard scores and/or percentiles not included The evaluator did not include recommendations for accommodations 7

8. Checklist for denied documentation 8

9. Disadvantages to 1997 guidelines Testing provided by high schools often not what required at post-secondary Significant cost to students if new testing was required Students who were unable to shoulder the cost not accommodated “Screening” 9

10. The next leg of the journey 2004 AHEAD Best Practices: Disability Documentation in Higher Education Encouraged a more comprehensive view Less “strict”, more flexible Greater emphasis on professional judgment 10

11. Our response Documentation Review Committee Issues frequently discussed: –Date of documentation and what were the situations in which reports that were more than 3 years old would be acceptable –Weighing of history of accommodations vs. current data –Intra-individual differences 11

12. Documentation checklist, circa 2007 12

13. New directions December, 2010 AHEAD Audio-conference: “Implementing the ‘New’ ADA and DOJ Regulations” ADAAA provides an opportunity to re-think our documentation guidelines for LD and ADHD 13

14. Key take-aways from “Implementing the ‘new’ ADA” Give considerable weight to documentation of past accommodations received in similar testing situations Give deference to treating professionals, clinical and professional narrative Value student self-report Exclude ameliorative impact of mitigating measures in determining coverage 14

15. Our response Major focus of documentation review: Determining substantial limitation Considering all available materials (no screening) Gathering input from students 15

16. Detours “Buckets” Accommodation-based review 16

17. Our response Focus on determining substantial limitation –“objective, authentic, relevant” (Brinckerhoff and Banerjee, 2011) –“The amount of information, documentation, and analysis involved in making reasonable accommodation determinations will frequently be greater than that necessary for making disability determination” (Hayward, 2011, p 56) 17

18. Documentation worksheet, circa 2012 18

19. Worksheet discussion information gathering analysis of information to determine accommodations 19

20. Outcomes Asking for additional information from the students in order to have a complete picture and make the case for approving accommodations Reviewing far more documentation than we had in the past (3-fold), and denying far less; more students registering with DSS Documentation Review Committee allows both individual review and timely response 20

21. A little further down the road May 2012: AHEAD’s “Supporting Accommodation Requests: Guidance on Documentation Practices” Individual review Common-sense standard Non-burdensome Relevant 21