“Helping students with disabilities achieve educational success”

Welcome, to Student Disability Services (SDS) of Daytona State College (DBC). The mission of the SDS is to ensure student success by advocating for students with disabilities while providing them with auxiliary aides, adaptive technology, and other reasonable accommodations to participate in DBC’s programs, services, and activities.

To be eligible for services at SDS, a student must demonstrate that he/she has a condition that is consistent with the definition of a disability established by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Section 504 defines a disability as “a condition, which substantially limits one or more major life activities such as learning, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, caring for oneself, and working.” To be eligible for accommodations, a student must provide appropriate documentation that his/her disability substantially limits one or more of his/her major life activities.

To apply for support services, a student with a disability must provide SDS with appropriate written documentation from a. licensed medical or mental health professional, who is qualified to diagnose his/her disability. The diagnosis should clearly state what the disability is and delineate the expected academic limitations caused by the disability. If SDS determines that the presented documentation is outdated, incomplete, or vague, the student must provide other appropriate documentation demonstrating the current existence of his/her disability before Student Disability Services can activate support services.

Basic Documentation Guidelines

• Diagnostic reports must be on letterhead paper and include the licensed professional’s name, title, Professional credentials, dates, and signature.
• Licensure information should include the licensed professional’s area of specialization and the name of the province or state in which he/she has a license to work.
• Licensed professionals conducting an assessment must be qualified to do so and it is essential that they have experience in working with the adult population.
• Licensed professional must state clearly the specific diagnosis of the disability, avoiding vague, nonspecific, or inclusive terms.
• The diagnostic report must specify the degree of current functional loss and/or the functional limitations caused by the disability.
• The diagnostic report must include anticipated effects of the functional limitations within the academic setting.
• If a student takes medications, the licensed professional should list them and delineate their potential side effects.਍Reports should include suggested academic accommodations.
• The documentation should be within the last three years. However, SDS reserves the right to make modifications to this requirement.
• Student Disability Services will not accept DOCTORS PRESCRIPTION PAD NOTES as documentation!
• Additional Documentation Guidelines
  
  Hearing Impairment & Deafness
  • Documentation must be in the form of a medical report or physician’s letter.
  • The student must also submit an audio-logical report.
  • An audiologist or other appropriate medical physician should make a medical diagnosis.
  • Medical Conditions and Physical Impairments
    • Documentation must be in the form of either a medical report or physician’s letter.
    • An appropriate physician qualified to make the diagnosis must make medical diagnosis.
  • Psychological & Psychiatric Disabilities
    • Documentation must be in the form of a psychological report or a neuropsychological report.
    • A psychologist, psychiatrist, or licensed mental health practitioner should make diagnosis.
    • There must be a specific diagnosis that is consistent with the diagnostic criteria found in the “American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV).”
  • Speech Impairments
    • Documentation must be in the form of a report or physician’s letter.
    • A speech pathologist or other appropriate medical physician should do diagnosis.
  • Visual Impairments & Blindness
    • Documentation must be in the form of a report or physician’s letter.
    • An ophthalmologist or other appropriate medical physician should do diagnosis.
  • Additional Guidelines for Documenting Learning Disabilities<
    
    It is unacceptable to administer just one test for the purpose of diagnosis. Minimally, the domains to be addressed should include (but not be limited to) the following test measures.
    • Aptitude: Includes the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), and the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised Tests of Cognitive Ability.
    • Information Processing: Includes the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude - 3 (DTLA-3), and Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery – Revised Tests of Cognitive Ability.
    • Academic Achievement: Includes Stanford Test of Academic Skills and Woodcock Johnson Psychoeducational Battery Revised: Tests of Achievement
      • The Wide Range Achievement Test-3 (WRAT-3) is not a comprehensive measure of achievement and therefore is not useful if used as the sole measure of achievement.
      • A school plan such as an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a ”504 Plan” alone is insufficient documentation to support a student’s eligibility for accommodations and/or services through SDS.
      • Documentation should be in the form of a psychoeducational or neuropsychological report.
      • Diagnostic reports must include written summaries or background information about a student’s education, and pertinent or relevant medical and family histories that relate to his/her learning disability.
      • Relevant test scores must be included and interpreted within the body of the report.
      • All diagnoses of specific learning disabilities must be clear and explained in writing.
    • Additional Documentation Guidelines for Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder
      
      The diagnostician must address all of the following six criteria in diagnosing ADIHD.
      • Evidence that anxiety disorders, disorders of depression, mood disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, dissassociative disorder, or substance-related disorders are not the primary disability and are not the primary cause of AD/HD.
      • A diagnostician must use standardized assessment measures in the diagnosis of AD/HD; i.e., T.0.V.A., Continuous Performance Test, neuropsychological evaluation.
      • A diagnosis must include a reported history of AD/HD symptoms by the age of seven, corroborated by another independent source.
      • A diagnosis must corroborate current AD/HD symptoms across multiple settings by one or more adults with knowledge of the client’s functioning.
      • A diagnosis must include documentation on two rating scales of AD/HD behaviors/symptoms that have appropriate age norms.
      • A diagnosis must include evidence of interference of AD/HD with appropriate academic or social functioning.
      • A psycho-educational evaluation/diagnosis of a learning disability should not be older than three years.
      • A diagnosis must describe the type of AD/HD and delineate the level of severity of AD/HD: i.e., mild, moderate, severe.
      • The licensed professional must also address the symptoms of a disability
      • The diagnosis must delineate functional limitations.
      • A diagnosis must identify medication (dosage and side effects) and other treatments.
      • A diagnosis must include summaries of questionnaires, measures, or other clinical data.