General Documentation Guidelines
The following guidelines have been modeled after the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Best Practices for Disability Documentation in Higher Education.
- Student’s Self-Report: A student’s narrative of his or her experience of disability, barriers, and effective and ineffective accommodations is an important tool which, when structured by interview or questionnaire and interpreted, may be sufficient for establishing disability and a need for accommodation.
- Observation and Interaction: Experienced disability professionals should feel comfortable using their observations of students’ language, performance and strategies as an appropriate tool in validating student narrative and self-report.
- Information from External or Third Parties: Documentation from external sources may include educational or medical records, reports and assessments created by health care providers, school psychologists, teachers, or the educational system. This information is inclusive of documents that reflect education and accommodation history, such as Individual Education Program (IEP), Summary of Performance (SOP), and teacher observations.
NOTE: All submitted reports become the property of the Center for Accessibility Resources & Services and are kept in a confidential file.
Students should submit copies of documentation, not originals.