Disability Documentation for Higher Education

Students who intend to request accommodations related to a disability issue must provide documentation of that disability.

• Documentation must include an evaluation from an appropriate evaluator for the disability issue. Generally that is a medical doctor, a clinical psychologist, an educational specialist, or other professional. An I.E.P. alone without related diagnostic information is not considered adequate for documentation purposes.
• The documentation must include a diagnostic statement that clearly identifies the condition.
• The documentation should be current (no older than three years old) unless it is a condition that is static such as vision or hearing loss.
• The evaluator should include a statement about the impact of the disability issue on the student's functioning in a specific area such as mobility, cognitive processing, endurance, etc. The evaluation should indicate how severe the condition is and whether or not it may vary over time.
• The evaluator should list or identify treatments, medications, assistive devices or accommodations that the student could benefit from. If there are side effects to any of the prescribed treatments, those should be identified as well.
• If the condition is variable in some way, that should be identified and recommendations for re-evaluation of the condition explained.
• Recommended accommodations and services should be logically linked to the service. If they are not obvious, they should be explained.

Disability documentation criteria are based on published recommendations from Disability Compliance for Higher Education , volume 11, issue 2, September 2005.

Centralizing Disability-Related Documents

The University, in consultation with the offices of the General Counsel and Disability Services on the Twin Cities campus, has established procedures for retaining any documentation or correspondence related to a student’s disability. These procedures are the result of the University’s responsibility to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

All disability-related documents on the Morris campus must be centralized in the Disability Services Office. These include any documents regarding a University student’s disability. Departments or individuals should not keep any copies of such documentation within departments or offices.

Any existing information related to a student’s disability, including medical reports, should be forwarded to the UMM Center for Advising & Learning, 328 Briggs Library, 600 E 4th St, Morris, MN 56267.

Verification of a disability and determination of a reasonable accommodation will be made by the Disability Services Office. This will occur after the analysis of disability-related documents and essential elements of the curriculum. A letter documenting this determination will be forwarded to the instructor or a department when necessary.