Specific Learning Disabilities --- Required Documentation

It is the policy and practice of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and state and local requirements regarding individuals with disabilities. Under these laws, no qualified individual with a disability shall be denied access to or participation in services, programs, and activities of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Academic accommodations are provided to students with documented learning disabilities so that these students are viewed according to their abilities, not disabilities.

A learning disability is generally defined as a significant discrepancy between achievement and ability or an intra-cognitive discrepancy not attributable to other handicapping conditions or to environmental deprivation. Documentation for learning disabilities is required for special admission consideration and academic adjustments and is provided at the student’s expense.

Disability Services (DS) will accept diagnoses of specific learning disabilities that are based on appropriate, comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations that are no more than three years old. The assessment must be administered by a trained and qualified (i.e., certified and/or licensed) professional (e.g., psychologist, school psychologist, neuropsychologist, educational diagnostician) who has had direct experience with adolescents and adults with learning disabilities.

An appropriate psychoeducational evaluation must include comprehensive measures in each of the following areas:

1. Aptitude (the evaluation must contain a complete intellectual assessment, with all subtests and standard scores reported)

2. Academic achievement (the evaluation must contain a comprehensive achievement battery with all subtests and standard scores reported). The test battery should include current levels of functioning in the relevant areas, such as reading (decoding and comprehension), mathematics, and oral and written expression

       and

3. Information processing (the evaluation should assess specific information processing areas such as short- and long-term memory, sequential memory, auditory and visual perception/processing, processing speed, executive function, and motor ability).

Examples of Measures

Aptitude

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS-R)

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale—Fourth Edition

• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery—III: Tests of Cognitive Ability

• Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test

Academic Achievement

• Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests (WIAT)

• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery—III: Tests of Achievement (W-JR)

• Stanford Test of Academic Skills (TASK)

• Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA).

Note:
Screening tools such as the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT III) are not considered comprehensive measures of achievement and must be accompanied by a comprehensive measure such as one of those listed above. All instruments selected to measure these areas must be age appropriate.

Information Processing

• Subtests of the WAIS-R or WAIS-Third Edition

• Subtests on the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery—Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability

Diagnostic Report

The diagnostic report must include the following information:

• diagnostic interview that addresses relevant historical information, past and current academic achievement, instructional foundation, past performance in areas of difficulty, age at initial diagnosis, and history of accommodations used in past educational settings and their effectiveness

• list of all instruments used in the test battery

• discussion of test behavior and specific test results

• diagnostic summary statement with the following information:

a. clear and direct statement that a learning disability does or does not exist, including a rule-out of alternative explanations for the learning problems. Terms such as appears,suggests, or probable in the diagnostic summary statement do not support a conclusive diagnosis

b. clear statement specifying the substantial limitations to one or more major life activities

c. psychometric summary of scores,

and

d. recommendations for accommodations, including rationale.

Diagnoses of specific learning disabilities that do not contain psychoeducational measures may not be used for determining eligibility for academic accommodations. For example, school plans such as Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 Plans are not adequate documentation; however, they can be included with the required evaluation. DS reserves the right to request reassessment when questions regarding previous assessment or previous service provision arise.

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This site was last updated 08/16/2002