Why does DAS need documentation of disability?
Students who are seeking support services from the Disability Access Services (DAS) at Spokane Community College (SCC) based on a disability are required, in most cases, to submit documentation to verify eligibility for services. Providing us with documentation of your disability(ies) will let us help you better. It is your responsibility to get documentation and provide it to DAS. All disabilities defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as Amended are recognized disabilities at our Disability Access Services Office.
What counts as documentation?
Documentation is any resource that indicates diagnoses, functional limitations, or disability-related barriers from a professional source. This can be diagnoses from a healthcare chart or portal, a written letter from a licensed clinical professional, and/or school records. Your name and the providing source must be clearly indicated on the document.
What should documentation of a disability include?
Documentation Guidelines – General Guidelines
Documentation Guidelines – Health, Physical, Hearing/Auditory, and Visual Disabilities
Documentation Guidelines – Psychological, ADD/ADHD, and Learning Disabilities
- Identification of the nature and extent of the disability.
- The date when you were diagnosed with the disability.
- Information that shows the effects of the disability.
- The functional impact on physical, perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral abilities should be described explicitly or through specific results from diagnostic procedures.
- Medications and side effects, or a description of treatments, assistive devices, etc. that you use and their effect. • Documentation is usually provided by a licensed clinician.
- Licensed clinicians include physicians, nurse practitioners, psychologists, learning disabilities specialists, rehabilitation or mental health counselors, or other qualified medical practitioners.
- The clinician's credentials and contact information.
- Documentation should be current.
- You may be asked to provide updated documentation if your condition changes, or if you let us know about a new disability.
What if I have IEPs and 504 Plans/K-12 Transition documents? Are those enough?
An Individualized Education Plan or 504 plan may help us identify services you have used in the past. If your high school completed a three-year review or an evaluation in your junior or senior year, this information would be the most useful. If you had an outside evaluation that was used to determine services, this may be useful as well. In some cases, these documents may be enough. In other cases, more documentation may be required to support certain accommodations.
What if I don’t have documentation?
Every individual situation is unique, so whether or not you have documentation, please contact or come by our office. We would love to discuss how we may be able to support your academic goals.