Kent State University
  Student Accessibility Services

STUDENT HANDBOOK
Eligibility

To be eligible for services through Student Accessibility Services, a student must:

  • Apply and be accepted to Kent State University, Kent Campus
  • Provide current and comprehensive documentation, as indicated in Documentation Requirements (below)
  • Register in person with Student Accessibility Services prior to enrollment (schedule an appointment with an SAS staff member for a Pre-Enrollment Interview)
  • Schedule a check-in meeting during the first two weeks of each semester enrolled.

IMPORTANT: Accommodations could take as long as 4-6 weeks to arrange, so early registration is strongly encouraged. Please note that accommodations CANNOT be provided until the initial Pre-Enrollment Interview is held, and appropriate documentation is on file in the SAS Office.

Documentation

To be eligible for disability-related services, students must provide documentation that meets the standards for indicating the presence of a disability, in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Student Accessibility Services requests current (within 3-5 years) documentation from appropriate licensed professionals. The student is responsible for the cost of obtaining documentation. If the initial documentation is determined to be inadequate (i.e., does not indicate the extent of the disability or support the accommodation request), the office has the discretion to require additional documentation.

Documentation of the disability should comprehensively address the following :

  1. Specific Diagnosis
  2. Functional limitations as a result of the disability, particularly as related to the academic setting.
  3. Testing/evaluation procedure utilized to assess the level of limitation, as well as a copy of the specific results.
  4. Recommendations for environmental modification.

Please note that disability eligibility verification forms are available for physicians to fill out from the SAS office. These forms are not necessarily required (a comprehensive report on letterhead that addresses the aforementioned criteria is generally adequate), but these can assist the professional in determining what specific information is necessary to verify eligibility for services. Contact Student Accessibility Services to have the appropriate eligibility verification form sent to you.

Documentation Regarding Specific Disabilities:

Student Accessibility Services requires more specific information of certain disabilities in order to determine eligibility for accommodations. The following information is provided to assist the professional in documenting the student's situation.

Learning Disabilities

Students with learning disabilities are required to provide the following information to verify eligibility for accommodations:

  1. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) from Grade 12 identifying the student as being served for a specific learning disability.
  2. A Multi-Factored Evaluation (MFE) completed by a psychologist or school psychologist during Grades 10, 11 or 12.This assessment must indicate that the student has a diagnosed learning disability and is receiving services for the disability.

In lieu of high school documentation, students may submit a report based on a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment performed by a private psychologist or school psychologist that indicates the presence of a specific learning disability.

The M.F.E. or psychoeducational assessment for the diagnosis of a specific learning disability must be submitted on letterhead of the qualified professional (or school district), and it must provide clear and specific evidence of a learning disability. It is not acceptable to administer one test, nor is it acceptable to base a diagnosis on only one of the several subtests. Specifically, the evaluation must adhere to the following criteria:

  1. Testing must be (within the past five years)
  2. Testing must indicate a specific diagnosis from the DSM-IV - please note that individual "learning styles", "learning differences", and "academic problems"; in and of themselves, do not constitute a learning disability. The nature and the severity of the disability must be supported by the psychoeducational assessment.
  3. Actual test scores must be provided (standard scores for all normed measures or percentiles are acceptable, grade equivalents are not unless standard scores/percentiles are also included.)
  4. Test scores must show evidence of significant discrepancies and intra-individual differences.
  5. A description of requested accommodations including the rationale must be provided.
  6. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation. They must indicate licensure or certification on the assessment.

Minimally, domains to be addressed must include the following:

A. Aptitude

A complete aptitude battery is required with all subtests and standard scores. An adult level battery should be administered, if appropriate. This should include one of the following:

  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Version III (WAIS-III) (the preferred instrument)
  • Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Test of Cognitive Ability
  • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition

B. Achievement

A complete achievement battery is required with all subtests and standard scores. This battery may include current levels of academic functioning in reading (decoding and comprehension), mathematics, and written language. Acceptable instruments include, but are not limited to:

  • Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Achievement
  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
  • Stanford Test of Academic Skill (TASK)
  • Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA) or,
  • Specific achievement tests such as the Test of Written Language-2 (TOWL-2),
  • Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised; or the Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test

Note: The Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised is not a comprehensive measure of achievement, and therefore is not acceptable if used as the sole measure of achievement.

C. Information Processing

Specific areas of information processing (i.e. short- and long-term memory; sequential memory; auditory and visual perception/processing; processing speed; executive functioning, motor ability) must be assessed. Acceptable instruments include but are not limited to:

  • Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude-3 (DTLA-3)
  • Information from subtests of the WAIS-III, or the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability
  • Other instruments relevant to the presenting learning problem

These guidelines have been adapted from those developed by the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), which is nationwide organization of individuals concerned with providing equal opportunity for students with disabilities in higher education.

Visual Impairments

Documentation should minimally include information regarding the student’s visual acuity, field restrictions, or other limitations. Recommendations for accommodations and services (particularly adaptive technology needs) are beneficial. As a guideline, generally visual impairments manifest by at least one of the following: Visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye after the best possible correction Peripheral field so constricted that it affects one’s ability to function in an educational setting Progressive loss of vision which may affect one’s ability to function in an educational setting

Hearing Impairments/Deafness

Documentation should minimally include the degree of hearing loss and indicate functional limitations resulting from the disability. It is STRONGLY suggested that students who require American Sign Language Interpreters or augmented hearing devices register with Student Disability Services no less than two months prior to enrollment. As a guideline, hearing impairments are generally recognized if a person experiences a hearing loss of 30 decibels or greater, a pure tone average of 500, 1000, 2000 Hz, ANSI, unaided in the better ear. An audiologist’s report that details the student’s degree of hearing loss is required.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Documentation must include the appropriate diagnosis from the DSM-IV, as well as a report that indicates a rigorous assessment process was used to diagnose the disability in accordance with criterion set by the DSM-IV.

Psychiatric Disabilities

Documentation must include the appropriate DSM-IV diagnosis, as well as a detailed description of how this disability causes a functional limitation for the student in the college learning environment. If concurrent accommodations are required based on side effects of regulatory medication, these medications and their effects on the student should be noted in the documentation.

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