POLICY

Students must provide the Office of Disability Services with documentation of 
their disability related to requested accommodations to receive support services 
from the office.

The term "specific learning disability" does not include students who have 
learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor 
disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, 
cultural, or economic disadvantage.  "Specific learning disability" means a 
disorder in one of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding 
or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an
impaired ability to listen, speak, write, spell, reason, or do any mathematics 
calculations.  The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, 
brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. 
(taken from Federal Register 8-77 and EDAPA 08.02.15.l.i.j.)

A person "qualified" as LD for the purpose of receiving services and or 
accommodations at Western must present documentation of their specific learning 
disability. (See below)  Any special request for accommodation must be 
accompanied by sufficient information to support that request based on the 
specific learning disability.  Accommodation and academically related services 
for students with learning disabilities are not designed to provide remediation. 
Accommodations and services are designed to accommodate the students' particular 
disability.

    PURPOSE

    PROCEDURES

Learning Disability Documentation:

It must be remembered that no single evaluation instrument or procedure may be 
used to determine whether or not a person possesses a learning disability.

Must meet requirement A or B:

A) Documentation of previous services for a Learning Disability at a college or 
   university, or testing within the past three years as an adult including: 
   cognitive ability, achievement levels, and possible processing deficits 
   (i.e., auditory memory, visual-spatial, attention, etc.)

B) If traditional age student (i.e. upon completion of high school planning to 
   enter college), testing within the past three years (recent IEP acceptable 
   with accompanying test data), showing a discrepancy between expected level of 
   performance and actual performance level is acceptable.  Identification of 
   the specific learning disability the school is using to determine IEP 
   eligibility and an indication of the student's strengths and weaknesses and 
   accommodations used.

    AUTHORITY

In part: Section 504 of 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Americans with Disability 
Act PL-101-336.

    APPROVAL

Office of Disability Services