Eligibility for services and reasonable accommodations are determined holistically, in light of disability documentation, student report of how their conditions impact them, perceived need for accommodations, history of accommodations (if any), and program requirements including technical standards. Lack of accommodations history or specific documentation should not prevent a student from making a request for accommodations. OSAS staff are happy to meet with any student experiencing disability-related barriers, even if they are not in possession of current documentation.
Please review the documentation requirements in the categories below. The Office of Student Accessibility Services may request additional documentation to support an accommodation request, if needed. The Office of Student Accessibility Services does not provide diagnostic services. Students are responsible for providing their own documentation for review.
Documentation Requirements
OSAS requires documentation from a qualified treatment provider. A qualified treatment provider must be licensed, follow established practices in the field, have comprehensive training with regard to the student's diagnoses, and cannot be related to the student. Qualified treatment providers are most often physicians, licensed psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, or therapists.
Documentation must describe how the disability limits one or more major life activities and to what extent the student experiences disability-related, academic limitations.
Accepted Forms of Documentation
- A student can request that a current treatment provider can complete the confidential online Clinician Disability Documentation form, on their behalf. This documentation form is sent directly to the Office of Student Accessibility Services.
- A student can submit a dated letter or report from a qualified treatment provider, written on professional letter head, that meets the criteria outlined in the specific categories at the bottom of this page. At minimum, all documentation should include:
- Student's full name, date of birth, ne number, address, college and academic program
- Certifying treatment provider's name, professional title, address, licensing credential, number, and state
- Diagnoses and description of how the disability limits one or more major life activities and to what extent the student experiences disability-related, academic limitations
- Dates of treatment and/or evaluations completed
- Current treatment plan, if applicable
Documentation Requirements by Category
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I. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation
- Name, title, professional credentials, licensure/certification information and location of practice must be included on any reports submitted.
- Evaluators must have professional training in, and experience with, evaluating learning disabilities in adolescents and/or adults.
- Evaluations performed by members of the student’s family are not acceptable. All reports must be on letterhead.
II. Documentation must be current
- Reports should reflect the current functional limitations of the student.
- Documentation should describe the current impact of the diagnosed condition in the academic and clinical domains. If able, the evaluator should make recommendations appropriate to a professional health science program setting.
- In general, evaluations conducted in the last three years will be considered timely; however, older documentation may suffice if diagnosis and impact are consistent.
- *Please note many testing agencies will not accept documentation more than three years old.
III. Documentation must be comprehensive
- Reports should include a full history of the student (medical, developmental, academic, familial) and indicate any evidence of early impairment, even if not formally diagnosed in childhood or early adolescence.
- Reports should indicate evidence of current impairment, including the results of a diagnostic interview and a battery of psycho educational tests designed to identify learning disabilities.
IV. Minimally, documented evaluation must include the following
- Assessment of cognitive ability/intellectual functioning
- Measurement of academic achievement
- Instruments that measure various domains of information processing
- Other instruments to help confirm or rule out the diagnosis of learning disability
- A specific diagnosis must be included if indicated.
- All test scores should be included, along with an interpretation of each and a summary. Documentation should rule out alternative explanations for learning problems (i.e.... difficulties that are motivational, emotional, attentional, or related to limited fluency in the English language).
- Documentation should address any coexisting disorders or suspected coexisting disorders.
- Documentation must indicate whether or not the evaluator believes the diagnosed condition rises to the level of a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act. A clear indication of the student’s functional limitations must be included.
- Documentation should tie recommendations for accommodation directly to the designated functional limitations. A rationale, explaining why each recommendation for accommodation is appropriate, should be given.
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I. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation
- Name, title, professional credentials, licensure/certification information and location of practice must be included on any reports submitted.
- Evaluators must have professional training in, and experience with evaluating the diagnosis of like or similar conditions in adults.
- Evaluations performed by members of the student’s family are not acceptable.
- All reports must be signed by the primary evaluator and typed on letterhead.
II. Documentation must be current
- Reports should be based on evaluations performed within a reasonable time frame, depending on the degree of change associated with the diagnosed condition(s).
- Generally a reasonable time frame is not more than three years, but it may be much shorter in some instances.
- Reports should accurately describe the current impact of the diagnosed condition and should indicate the currently anticipated course of the condition.
III. Documentation must be comprehensive
- Reports should include both a description of and evidence of an impairment.
- They should briefly describe any current treatment plan.
- A specific diagnosis (or more than one) must be included.
- Documentation should address any coexisting conditions, suspected coexisting conditions or other confounding factors.
- Documentation must indicate whether or not the diagnosed condition(s) rises to the level of a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This professional opinion should then be explained.
- There must be a clear indication of the individual student’s functional limitations.
- Documentation should include recommendations for accommodations that are directly related to the functional limitations (and relevant to a professional school environment if possible).
- A rationale, explaining why each recommendation for accommodation is appropriate, should be provided.
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I. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation.
- Name, title, professional credentials, licensure/certification information, and location of practice must be included on any reports submitted.
- Evaluator must have training in, and experience with, the differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in adolescents and/or adults.
- All reports must be signed by the evaluator and should be typed on letterhead
II. Documentation must be current.
- Reports are to be based on evaluations performed within six months.
- If a report is older than six months, and the student has remained in clinical contact with his or her evaluator, that professional may supplement the original report with a letter (on letterhead) describing any and all changes since the previous report.
- Documentation, including any supplements, should describe the current impact of the diagnosed condition(s).
- Documentation should describe any currently mitigating factors, such as medication or other treatment that further impact the students functioning, contributing to functional limitation (i.e...., cognitive fogging or slowing due to side effects of medication).
- Documentation should make recommendations appropriate to a professional school environment.
III. Documentation must be comprehensive.
- Reports should include a brief history of the student's disorder. A specific diagnosis, or more than one, must be included.
- Reports must indicate that DSM-V criteria have been met for each condition. Other potential diagnoses must be ruled out in the report.
- Documentation must indicate whether or not the evaluator believes the diagnosed condition(s) rise(s) to the level of a disability as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- There must be a clear indication of the individual student's functional limitations, in a professional school environment and across other domains.
- Documentation should include recommendations for accommodations that are directly related to the functional initiations.
- A rationale, explaining why each recommendation for accommodation is appropriate, is to be given.
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There may be the occasion when a student sustains a serious, but time-limited, injury or illness (e.g. a broken bone, mononucleosis, etc.) that requires the student to miss several days of class, clinical practicum or limits the student's ability to perform in the clinical area. For the safety of the student, patients, classmates, and staff, the student will engage the Office of Student Accessibility Services to develop a short-term accommodation plan for all educational settings, including the classroom, lab, and clinical environment, where academic performance may be affected. These time-limited accommodations are created through an interactive process that includes the student, Office of Student Accessibility Services, the appropriate faculty and the student's health care provider in order to facilitate the student meeting course objectives.
Students with temporary accommodation needs will follow the same process required of all students seeking accommodations. After completing the Request for Accommodation Form, students will submit documentation from a treating clinician explaining the injury or illness, and schedule an intake meeting with OSAS staff. The documentation must specify any restrictions for the student (such as lifting), as well as the date the student will be eligible to return without restrictions.
If the student will require accommodations in clinical or practicum setting, the program director and clinical faculty will be consulted to review the course objectives and technical standards to ensure patient safety and equal access to the curriculum. At times it may be determined that the extent of the injury is too severe and even with reasonable accommodations the student cannot continue with the clinical placement. The student will consult with their academic advisor to discuss progression options that may include: an augmented plan of study, leave of absence, or drop a course, etc.
If the student can still meet the technical standards for the program and can fulfill the clinical objectives with reasonable accommodation, there is no cause for restricting an injured student from the clinical environment. Students are not expected to work independently in the clinical environment and can rely upon their clinical instructor, fellow students, and other unit staff to perform any patient care the injured student is unable to perform.
Injured students should be aware of their limitations and discuss their restriction with their clinical instructor to ensure the reasonable accommodation is understood and utilized properly. The clinical instructor should inform the unit staff of the students’ injury and accommodation. It is the injured student’s responsibility to ensure they are working within their medical restriction and not performing tasks that will injure them further while in the clinical environment.
Connect with OSAS
StudentAccessibility@rush.edu
Marie Lusk is the contact for students and faculty in the following colleges/programs: Rush Medical College and Translational Sciences College of Health Sciences: Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology, Clinical Nutrition, Cardiovascular Perfusion, Respiratory Care, Vascular Ultrasound, Imaging Sciences | Book a Meeting with Marie Lusk |
Alison Healy is the contact for students and faculty in the following colleges/programs: College of Nursing College of Health Sciences: Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant Studies, Health Sciences BS/PhD, Health System Management, Clinical Lab Management, Medical Lab Science | Book a Meeting with Alison Healy |