Student Disability Services

Eligibility and Documentation Criteria

At SDSU, students initiate contact with Student Disability Services in order to determine eligibility for services and accommodations.  Please review the following information carefully before submitting supporting documentation and your application for services.

Eligibility

California State University policy charges Student Disability Services with the responsibility to review documentation of disability, to determine legally mandated accommodations and services, and to work with university faculty and staff to provide accommodations and services to students at San Diego State University.

Students may qualify for accommodations and services if their documentation meets the definition of disability as stated in the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA).  The documentation must establish that they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.  Life activities include caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.  A major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function.

In addition, students with a record of impairment or who are regarded as having such an impairment are protected against discrimination, even though their current level of functioning may not establish a need for accommodations and services.

Students with temporary disabilities lasting less than six months are not eligible for protection under the ADAAA; however, Student Disability Services recognizes the need to provide services to students with temporary disabling conditions so that they can continue to make progress toward their degrees. Typical arrangements include test accommodations, golf cart service, or volunteer notetakers, depending upon the nature of the temporary disability.

Verification of Disability

The director or director’s designee has the authority to verify a disability if the nature and extent of the disability is evident. Where a disability cannot be verified by observation, documentation for either permanent or temporary disabilities may be provided by a licensed physician, psychologist, audiologist, or speech pathologist. Documentation may also be accepted from a licensed clinical social worker, rehabilitation counselor, marriage and family therapist, learning disability specialist, or other appropriate certified/licensed professional.  It is not acceptable for relatives or close friends to provide this documentation, regardless of qualifications.

Documentation

The following guidelines are provided in the interest of assuring that evaluation reports are appropriate to document eligibility:

• Testing must be comprehensive. It is not acceptable to base a diagnosis on only one of several subtests. Minimally, domains to be addressed must include (but are not limited to):

1. Aptitude.
   • In evaluating aptitude, specific areas of information processing, memory, auditory and visual perception/processing, processing speed and reasoning must be assessed.
   • The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-R) or Woodcock-Johnson III or IV: Tests of Cognitive Ability with subtest scores is the preferred instrument OR the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS III or IV).
   • The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) is not an acceptable assessment instrument for an adult population.
2. Achievement
   • Current levels of functioning in reading, mathematics and written language are required.
   • The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-R), Woodcock-Johnson III or IV: Tests of Achievement, or the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test II (WIAT II) are the preferred instruments.
   • The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) is not a comprehensive measure of achievement and is therefore not suitable as a sole measure of achievement.

• Testing must be current. Since assessment constitutes the basis for determining reasonable accommodations, it is in a student's best interest to provide recent and appropriate documentation. In most cases, this means within the past three to five years. This assessment serves as the basis for decision-making about a student's needs for accommodations in a college environment that is academically very competitive.
• Documentation must contain a clear diagnosis of a disability. Individual "learning styles" and "learning differences" in and of themselves do not constitute a learning disability.

• Test scores/data must be included (standard scores). This is important since certain University policies and procedures (e.g. petitioning for permission to substitute courses) require specific data to substantiate eligibility.

• Professionals conducting assessment and rendering diagnoses of learning disabilities must be qualified to do so. Experience working with an adult population is essential. The following professionals would generally be considered qualified to evaluate specific learning disabilities: clinical or educational psychologists, school psychologists, neuropsychologists, learning disabilities specialists, and speech language pathologists. It is not considered appropriate for professionals to evaluate members of their own families.

• Diagnostic reports must include the names and titles of the evaluators as well as the date(s) of testing.