What Does This Do?

It is the policy of Pittsburg State University to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. In order to provide academic accommodations, proper documentation is required and must be presented to the Coordinator of Student Accommodations. This documentation is not part of the student's college record.

Appropriate documentation of a disability helps the student in educating appropriate disability staff about the impact of his/her disability, his/her needs, and potential accommodations. Student Accommodations at Pittsburg State University may request documentation for the following reasons:

• To verify the existence of a disability
• To assist in the determination of eligibility for auxiliary aids and services and individual needs to minimize the impact of the disability

Documentation Checklist

Documentation Guidelines

Documentation must be typed on business letterhead from a licensed healthcare professional not related to the student who is qualified to give a psychological and/or medical diagnosis. The most recent report update should be no more than 3 years old. The name, credentials and signature of the licensed healthcare professional must appear on the documentation.

• The documentation must include all pertinent diagnoses, preferably with the diagnostic code(s) from the DSM-V or ICD-9-CM.
• The report should include information outlining the testing/assessment tools used. Any learning disability testing must include the actual standard test scores.
• Information on how the disability impacts the student’s major life activities: caring for oneself, seeing, eating, walking, lifting, speaking, learning, concentrating, communicating, performing manual tasks, hearing, sleeping, standing, bending, breathing, reading, thinking, and working.
• Documentation should address all pertinent positive and negative effects of mitigating (treatment) measures. This could include a description of treatment, medications (and potential side effects), and assistive devices with estimated effectiveness of their impact on the disability.
• Documentation should provide recommendations for accommodations for the student and include the rationale for the recommended accommodations.

All costs of obtaining documentation of a disability are assumed by the student. If the initial documentation is incomplete or inadequate to determine the extent of the disability and reasonable accommodations, the Student Accommodations has the discretion to require additional documentation. Any cost of obtaining additional documentation is also the responsibility of the student.

In general, the less apparent the disability (i.e., learning disabilities), the greater the need for a detailed, comprehensive evaluation report. Exceptions to this guideline may be made on a case-by-case basis.

The Coordinator for Student Accommodations is responsible for certifying that a student has a disability and determines reasonable accommodations and other appropriate services. Students who are found to be not eligible for accommodations are referred to other campus and community resources for assistance. The Student Accommodations reserves the right to deny accommodations or services if insufficient documentation is provided.

You can still schedule an appointment to discuss your disability even without documentation; however, your file will remain incomplete until the Coordinator has received your documentation.