Documentation guidelines provide students, schools, professional diagnosticians, and service providers with a common understanding and knowledge base of the components of documentation that are necessary to validate the existence of a disability, the impact of the disability on the individual’s educational performance, and the need for accommodations for students seeking reasonable academic, housing, or dining accommodations at the University of Pennsylvania. Documentation should be comprehensive in order to avoid or reduce unnecessary time delays in decision making related to the provision of services.
Disability Services encourages all students to begin the accommodation request process, even if they do not currently have documentation that meets these guidelines. Students can use an initial meeting with a disability specialist to talk about how they might obtain documentation and what other university supports might be helpful to them at this time.
The University of Pennsylvania is committed to including individuals with disabilities as full participants in its programs, services and activities through compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA) of 2008. To establish that an individual is covered under the ADAAA, the student’s documentation must indicate that the disability substantially limits a major life activity. The following documentation requirements are provided in the interest of assuring that documentation of a disability demonstrates an impact on a major life activity, is appropriate to verify eligibility, and supports the request for accommodations, adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.
The University of Pennsylvania values students’ history of accommodations as part of the decision-making process. Students are welcome to submit documentation of their accommodations for standardized testing, Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs), 504 Plans, and accommodation letters from previous academic institutions, if applicable.
General Documentation Guidelines
- Documentation should be provided by professionals with comprehensive training and experience in the relevant specialty and hold appropriate licensure and/or certification.
- The provider must be familiar with the history and functional limitations of the student’s condition and provide detailed information about the substantial nature and level of the impairment and its impact on major life functions
- The documentation provided cannot be from a family member or someone with a personal relationship with the student or student’s family
- Disability Services strongly encourages typed documentation for legibility and accessibility reasons. The Documentation of Disability form is available as a fillable PDF.
- Documentation must reflect the status of the student’s current functional limitations or impact.
Please select the documentation guidelines that pertain to your medical condition:
- A specific diagnosis per the DSM-5 or ICD-10
- A comprehensive, age-appropriate psychoeducational, psychodiagnostic, or neuropsychological assessment (for most students, this would mean adult-normed testing measures and the report should include standard scores, standard deviations and percentiles) or an in-depth, well-rounded evaluation composed of a clinical interview, self-test, normed rating scales, etc.
- An appropriate credentialed and licensed professional might include: clinical psychologist, neurodevelopmental physician, neurologist, neuropsychologist, psychiatrist, school psychologist
- Information on side effects of medications, if relevant to an accommodation request
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification. (Optional)
- A specific diagnosis per the DSM-5 or ICD-10
- A comprehensive psychoeducational, psychodiagnostic, or neuropsychological examination that is scaled for adults (report should include standard scores, standard deviations and percentiles)
- An appropriate credentialed and licensed professional might include: a clinical psychologist, neurodevelopmental physician, neurologist, neuropsychologist, psychiatrist
- Information on side effects of medications, if relevant to an accommodation request
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- Assessment or evaluation from an ocularist, ophthalmologist or optometrist detailing the functional limitations of the disability, could be the Documentation of Disability form (Preferred)
- The age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon whether the disability is static or changing
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- Audiogram with summary detailing the functional limitations of the disability or completed Documentation of Disability form (preferred) by an otolaryngologist, otologists, otorhinolaryngologists, or licensed audiologist
- The age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon whether the disability is static or changing
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- A specific diagnosis per the DSM-5 or ICD-10
- A thorough neuropsychological or psychoeducational evaluation scaled for adults. Areas to be assessed:
- Aptitude
- Achievement
- Information Processing
- An appropriate credentialed and licensed professional might include: a clinical psychologist, neurodevelopmental physician, neuropsychologist, school psychologist
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- A specific mental health diagnosis per the DSM-5 or ICD-10
- Documentation may take the form of a detailed letter or Documentation of Disability form (preferred)
- An appropriate credentialed and licensed professional might include: a clinical psychologist, licensed counselor, psychiatric nurse practitioner, psychiatrist, social worker
- Information on side effects of medications, if relevant to an accommodation request
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- The age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon whether the disability is static or changing
- Information on side effects of medications, if relevant to an accommodation request
- Documentation may take the form of a detailed letter or Documentation of Disability form (preferred)
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- Neuropsychological evaluation containing assessments of visual, auditory, intellectual, and language competence
- An appropriate credentialed and licensed professional might include: neurologist, neuropsychologist, specialist in neurotrauma
- The age of acceptable documentation is dependent upon whether the disability is static or changing
- Information on side effects of medications, if relevant to an accommodation request
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
- Diagnosis, including description of symptoms and impact of diagnosis
- Documentation may take the form of a detailed letter or Documentation of Disability form (preferred)
- Information on side effects of medications, if relevant to an accommodation request
- Recommended accommodations, along with a rationale and justification (Optional)
Referrals for Psychological and Neuropsychological Evaluations
Disability Services maintains an updated list of local providers who can conduct psychological and neuropsychological evaluations as a reference for students. After a student completes an Accessibility Request through MyWeingartenCenter and schedules an initial appointment with their assigned disability specialist, their specialist will be happy to share the list of providers and explain the process of obtaining a psychological evaluation.
Temporary Injuries
The Weingarten Center may be available to assist students who have a temporary injury which results in a functional impairment. Examples of temporary conditions include broken bones, concussions, injuries requiring surgery and other acute illnesses. Appropriate temporary accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis and may include: a copy of class notes, assistance with taking tests, quizzes, or exams if the student is unable to write, or a referral to use Penn Accessible Transportation (PAT) to assist with on-campus transportation.
It is required that a diagnosis be made by a licensed physician with credentials in the area of the injury in question. The following guidelines are provided to assist Disability Services in collaborating with each student to determine appropriate accommodations:
All documentation must be provided using the Weingarten Center’s documentation form for physical/medical disabilities or typewritten and signed on professional letterhead bearing the physician’s address, phone, and clinical affiliation. The physician’s license number and any additional information about specialty credentials should be listed.
The report should describe the type and severity of the individual’s symptoms at the time of first diagnosis, and give the approximate date of their onset and expected recovery time. Subsequent progress and treatment of the condition should also be given.
A description of the individual’s current symptoms should be reported.
The report should detail any currently prescribed or recommended treatment, such as medical treatment, physical therapy, dietary requirements, assistive devices, etc.
Specific substantial limitations related to the injury should be listed, especially those that impact academic access, such as taking notes, using a computer, reading standardized print, etc.
Additional documentation will be required if symptoms or residual side effects of the injury continue past the initial reported recovery time.