Medical documentation requirements

If you are seeking academic accommodations, you are required to provide the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) with current documentation of your medical condition or disability.

You can provide documentation from certified and licensed doctors, psychologists, or other health professionals who have specific training, expertise, and experience in the diagnosis of conditions for which accommodation is being requested.

Documentation is treated by the Disability Resource Centre as confidential in accordance with the Freedom of Information Guidelines.

Documentation requirements

Documentation provided by practitioners must:

  • be legible and preferably typed and submitted on letterhead
  • include the practitioner’s name, license number, title, phone/fax, mailing and email addresses, and signature
  • indicate the length of time you have been under the practitioner’s care
  • describe the nature of your medical condition/disability, along with a detailed explanation of the functional impact of the disability (A diagnosis alone is not sufficient to support a request for an accommodation)
  • provide sufficient detail so our staff can determine appropriate accommodations
  • describe the symptoms that formed the basis for the practitioner’s diagnosis
  • include relevant test results and supporting documentation if the practitioner is verifying an existing diagnosis
  • describe the timelines for rehabilitation and recovery if the diagnosis is of a temporary nature
  • identify side effects of medications that may adversely affect academics

Certain disabilities have specific informational requirements.  These include: 

  • complete, current psycho-educational assessment for a learning disability (documentation standards below)
  • neuro-psychological assessment for traumatic brain injury
  • audiology report for a hearing disability
  • ophthalmology report for a visual disability

Any expenses related to obtaining documentation of disability are your responsibility.

DRC Verification of Disability Form (PDF)

Learning disabilities documentation standards

Make sure you have the right documentation if you request an accommodation for learning disability.

Qualified Assessor

A qualified assessor is either a Registered Psychologist with an expertise in diagnosing learning disabilities (LD) and making educational recommendations.

or

Certified School Psychologist who, if in BC, is a member in good standing with the BC Association of School Psychologists. These professionals must be or have been employed by a provincially funded school board/college/university at the time of the LD assessment.

Current documentation

The qualified assessor’s report must be complete, typed on official letterhead, and signed and dated by the qualified assessor. The report must include:

  • The qualified assessor’s name, title, professional credentials, address and phone, fax number, or email
  • History
  • Review of documentation and previous testing, if any
  • Discussion of Standardized Test results (Intelligence, Aptitudes and Achievement, and Emotional Functioning)
  • Appropriate Norm-Referenced and Assessment instruments
  • Test results in Standard scores and/or percentiles
  • Conclusions and recommendations that include specific and, if indicated, realistic educational accommodations accompanied by a rationale.

Diagnostic features

The LD diagnosis must contain and report on the following diagnostic features:

  • Diagnosis of the individual’s achievement on individually administered standardized tests in reading, mathematics, or written expression substantially below norms with any additional factors expressed: an associated disorder in cognitive processing, or in co-morbid mental disorder, or general medical condition
  • The learning problems significantly interfere with academic achievement or occupational function that requires reading, mathematical, or writing skills
  • The diagnosis must describe the level of severity and how the disability currently significantly interferes with academic function (E.g. reading, memorizing, writing, note-taking, test-taking etc.)

The report should contain recommendations for specific reasonable accommodations needed to address the current and substantial impact of the LD on the client’s academic functioning. Recommendations must be supported by test scores and must be included in the report.

Typically, the report should be current and not more than 3-5 years old.

Students should be at least 18 years old at the time of testing.

If there any questions about LD documentation, please contact our office.