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Documentation Guidelines & Forms

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UT Dallas > AccessAbility Resource Center > Supporting Students with Disabilities > Documentation Guidelines & Forms

We hope this page will help you navigate the various forms and guidelines you need to receive the accommodations necessary to ensure an equitable education experience.

Forms

Disability Documentation Forms 

Note: you must personally return the applicable form(s) below by using the link you will receive by email after completing step #1 above (preferably) or uploading. DO NOT ask your doctor or other third party to send your documentation to us, we can only accept it from the student by upload. DO NOT email the forms to us.

Accommodation Request for National Exams for Continuing Students

If you are requesting accommodations for the GRE, GMAT or any other National Exam, please complete the Accommodation Request for National Exams form (pdf) and make a half-hour appointment to discuss your needed documentation. Contact the AccessAbility Resource Center (ARC) to schedule that appointment.

If you are requesting accommodations for the Texas Higher Education Assessment, please register with the Student Success Center, which will contact us on your behalf.

Housing Accommodation Request for Incoming and Continuing Students

UT Dallas provides reasonable housing accommodations to students with documented disabilities and/or medical conditions. If you have a disability and want to request housing accommodations you must complete the Disability/Medical Housing Accommodation Request Form (pdf) and provide the necessary documentation to the ARC.

Documentation Guidelines

In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the ARC provides equal access to educational programs and safeguards against discrimination for qualified students with disabilities as defined by the ADA.

The ADA defines a person with a disability as any person who:

  • has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
  • has a record of such impairment.
  • is regarded as having such impairment.

For ARC to determine if a student’s condition meets the standard defined by the law, the disability documentation submitted by the student must contain all of these elements:

  • Administered or completed by a licensed or credentialed examiner.
  • A diagnostic statement identifying the disability.*
  • A description of the diagnostic methodology.
  • A description of the current functional limitations.
  • A description of the expected duration and progression of the condition.
  • A rationale and justification for all requested accommodations.

*Note: A condition does not automatically qualify as a disability.

Detailed Guidelines

ARC has established documentation guidelines (pdf) for conditions that qualify for disability services. These guidelines provide professional diagnosticians and service providers with a common understanding of those components of documentation necessary to validate the existence of a disability, the functional limitations caused by the condition, and the need for reasonable accommodations in an academic setting. 

Specific documentation requirement guidelines exist for each of the following categories:

ARC requires all documentation in English. Certified English translations are required for documents prepared in a language other than English.

Please note that UT Dallas does not offer comprehensive evaluation for learning disabilities or ADHD for students. Anyone wishing to pursue such an evaluation should visit an off-campus evaluator. Please contact ARC to receive a list of local evaluators. These references are not affiliated with UT Dallas in monetary or academic decisions. UT Dallas does not pay for these services.

Documentation Review Process

After the student submits documentation, it is reviewed to ensure it meets ARC documentation guidelines. This includes a review by the director.

Upon completion of the review process, the student is contacted and an intake appointment is scheduled.

Confidentiality and Authorization to Release Information

ARC will adhere to its confidentiality policies regarding its responsibility to maintain confidentiality of the evaluation and will not release any part of the documentation without the student’s informed consent or under compulsion of legal process.

To consent to the disclosure of your disability information, complete the Authorization to Release Information form (pdf).

Learning Disability Documentation Requirements

Students seeking support services from the AccessAbility Resource Center based on a previously diagnosed learning disorder (LD) must submit documentation that verifies their eligibility under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the ADA Amendments Act.

The documentation must describe a disabling condition, which is defined by the presence of significant limitations in one or more major life activities. Merely submitting evidence of a diagnosis and/or a discrepancy between ability and achievement based on a single subtest score is not sufficient to warrant academic accommodations. 

Similarly, nonspecific diagnoses, such as individual “learning styles,” “learning differences,” “academic problems,” and “test difficulty/anxiety” in and of themselves do not constitute a disability. 

The guidelines below are intended to provide guidance for the assessment process, including the areas that must be assessed for ARC Review Committee to make appropriate decisions.

Students submitting documentation of a learning disorder must provide a copy of the comprehensive psychoeducational report to be eligible for accommodations and/or modifications. Such documentation should include a DSM-IV or ICD Diagnosis (text and code) and information concerning comorbidity. There must be clear and specific evidence of a learning disability.

Testing should be current. Accommodations are based on the current nature and impact of your disability. In general, this means that testing must have been conducted within the last five years prior to your request for accommodations.

Evaluation

Testing must be comprehensive. Objective evidence of a substantial limitation in cognition and learning must be provided. 

Assessment instruments used must be reliable, valid and standardized for diagnosing LD in an adult population. The following areas are generally assessed:

  • Aptitude: Intellectual assessments.
  • Achievement: Current levels of academic functioning in relevant areas such as reading, mathematics, oral and written language.
  • Information processing: Specific areas of information processing (e.g., short- and long-term memory, sequential memory, auditory and visual perception/processing, processing speed, executive functioning, motor ability).

Minimally, the domains to be addressed must include, but are not limited to:

  • Diagnostic interview
    • Includes relevant background information in support of the diagnosis. 
    • May include a self-report of limitations and difficulties, a history of the presenting problem(s), a developmental history, academic history, including summaries of previous evaluation results and reports of classroom behavior and performance, a history of the family’s learning difficulties and primary language spoken in the home, any pertinent medical and psychological history, a discussion of possible comorbid conditions.
  • Complete psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation
    • Actual test scores must be provided; standard scores are preferred. 
    • It is not acceptable to administer only one test or to base the diagnosis on only one of several subtests.
    • Individualized education plans (IEPs) in and of themselves are not sufficient documentation.
  • Functional limitations
    • Testing report should clearly detail how the individual’s disabling condition affects a major life activity and the resultant functional limitations in the academic setting.
    • This may include information on the severity and pervasiveness of the disorder.
    • The evaluator also should specify how the test results relate to the individual’s functioning.
    • Functional limitations should be determined without consideration of mitigating measures (i.e., medication, etc.). 
    • If condition is episodic in nature, level of functioning should be assessed based on active phase of symptoms.
  • Accommodations
    • Documentation should include a history of current and past accommodations and whether they were useful.
    • Recommendations for future accommodations and services are helpful and should be included.
    • However, the determination of whether an accommodation is reasonable and appropriate within the University environment rests with ARC.

The diagnostic report must be on letterhead, typed, dated, and signed, and otherwise legible. The name, title and professional credentials of the evaluator, including information about license or certification as well as area of specialization, employment, and state in which the individual practices must be clearly stated.

Use of diagnostic terminology indicating a specific disability by someone whose training and experience are not in these fields is not acceptable. Evaluators should not be related to the individual being assessed. Diagnoses written on prescription pads and/or parent’s notes indicating a disability are not considered appropriate documentation.

It is important to recognize that accommodation needs can change over time and are not always identified during the initial diagnostic process. A prior history of accommodation, without demonstration of current need, does not in and of itself warrant provision of a like accommodation.

In addition to documentation as described above, transfer students should provide written verification of accommodations received (and dates served) from the previously attended school(s).ARC will make the final determination as to whether appropriate and reasonable accommodations are warranted and can be provided to the individual.