Documentation Guidlines

Documentation Guidelines For Specific Learning Disability

Professionals conducting assessment and rendering diagnoses of specific learning disabilities (SLD) must be qualified. A qualified professional needs to hold a degree in a field related to the diagnosis of SLD and have at least one year of diagnostic experience with adults and late adolescents. Recommended practitioners may include: certified and/or licensed psychologists, learning disabilities specialists and educational therapists with the above characteristics. The diagnostician must be an impartial individual who is not a family member of the student.

The following documentation requirements will assist the service provider in collaborating with each student to determine appropriate accommodations. Documentation serves as a foundation that supports a student's request for appropriate accommodations. Recommended documentation includes all of the following:

  1. Testing that is comprehensive, including a measure of Aptitude, Information Processing and Achievement in the areas of reading, mathematics and written language;
  2. A narrative summary, including all standardized scores (subtest as well as overall scores), which supports the diagnosis;
  3. Documentation for eligibility must be current, within the last three years, and reflect the current impact the learning disability has on the student's functioning, (the age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon the disabling condition, the current status of the student and the student's specific request for accommodations);
  4. A clear statement that a learning disability is present along with the rationale for this diagnosis. (Note: individual "learning deficits," "learning styles," and "learning differences," do not, in or of themselves, constitute a learning disability);
  5. A statement of the functional impact or limitations of the disability on learning or other major life activity and the degree to which it impacts the individual in the learning context for which accommodations are being requested.

Further assessment by an appropriate professional may be required if co-existing AD/HD or other disabling conditions is indicated. The student and the Disability Support Services' Specialist at the University of Northern Colorado will collaborate regarding accommodations with the final decision made by the disability specialist.

Documentation accepted at this university might not be accepted by other institutions, agencies and/or programs (e.g. testing agencies, licensure exams, certification programs). Please check with the specific institutions and/or programs to determine their documentation requirements.

Testing for Assessing Adolescents and Adults

When selecting a battery of tests, it is critical to consider the technical adequacy of instruments including their reliability, validity, and standardization on an appropriate norm group. The professional judgment of an evaluator in choosing tests is important.

The following list is provided as a helpful resource, but it is not intended to be definitive or exhaustive.

APTITUDE

  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Third Edition (WAIS-III)
  • Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (Third Edition) – WJ-III
  • Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale – Fifth Edition (SB-V)
  • Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT)
  • Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales

NOTE: Tests that are primarily designed to be used as screening devices (e.g., the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT), the Slosson Intelligence Test – Revised (SIT-R3), and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI)) are often not comprehensive enough to provide the kinds of information necessary to make accommodation decisions.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

  • Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (Third Edition) – WJ-III ACH
  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (Second Edition) – WIAT-II
  • Basic Achievement Skills Inventory (BASI)

Or specific achievement tests such as:

  • Nelson-Denny Reading Skills Test
  • Test of Written Language- Third Edition (TOWL-3)
  • Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests- Revised/Norm Update

Specific achievement tests are useful instruments when administered under standardized conditions and interpreted within the context of other diagnostic information. The Wide Range Achievement Test- Fourth Edition (WRAT-4) is not a comprehensive measure of achievement and therefore may not provide sufficient information if used as the sole measure of achievement.

INFORMATION PROCESSING

table instruments include the Wechsler Memory Scale –Third Edition (WMS-III), information from scales on the WAIS-III, and the WJ-III COG, as well as other relevant instruments.

Aptitude

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (WAIS - R)

Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised:  Tests of Cognitive Ability    

Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (4th Ed.)

The Slosson Intelligence Test - Revised and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test are primarily screening devices which are not comprehensive enough to provide the kinds of information necessary to make accommodation decisions.

Academic Achievement

Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)

Stanford Test of Academic Skills

Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Achievement

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

Or specific achievement tests such as:

Nelson-Denny Reading Skills Test

Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test

Test of Written Language - 3 (TOWL-3)

Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised

Specific achievement tests are useful instruments when administered under standardized conditions and interpreted within the context of other diagnostic information.  The Wide Range achievement Test - 3 (WRAT - 3) is not a comprehensive measure of achievement and therefore is not useful if used as the sole measure of achievement.

Information Processing

Acceptable instruments include the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude - 3 (DTLA - 3), the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability, as well as other relevant instruments.

Disability Support Services maintains disability files and diagnostic testing information for seven years after the student either graduates, transfers, or leaves the university.  After that time, the confidential files are destroyed.  If a student does not attend the University of Northern Colorado but has submitted documentation, the files will be destroyed after two years.  Consequently,  the student should maintain his/her own copy of the diagnostic information.