General Documentation Requirements

Students are responsible for submitting to Support Services supportive documentation of their disability.

In order to fully evaluate requests for accommodations or auxiliary aids and to determine eligibility for services, the Support Services Office needs documentation of your disability. The documentation you provide should include an evaluation by an appropriate professional that makes evident the current impact of the disability as it relates to the accommodation(s) requested and include a description of any and all functional limitations. Those accommodations coordinated by Support Services are provided so that students have equal access to activities and programs at TSTC. Professionals conducting assessments and rendering diagnoses must be qualified to do so. Such documentation should be on letterhead and contain the professional's signature and license number. Documentation must be current.

The general guidelines listed below are developed to assist you in working with your treating/diagnosing professional(s) to prepare the information needed to evaluate your request(s). If, after reading these guidelines and reviewing disability specific information provided below, you have any questions, feel free to call our office at 956-364-4520.

Documentation should include the following information:

1.Current functional impact of the condition(s) The current relevant functional impacts on physical (mobility, dexterity, endurance, etc.), perceptual, cognitive (attention, distractibility, communication, etc), and behavioral abilities should be described as a clinical narrative and/or through the provision of specific results from the diagnostic procedures/assessment.

2.Treatments, medications, accommodations/auxiliary aids, services currently prescribed or in use. Provide a description of treatments, medications, accommodations/auxiliary aids and/or services currently in use and their estimated effectiveness in minimizing the impact of the condition(s). Include any significant side effects that may impact physical, perceptual, behavioral or cognitive performance. If you feel that any additional accommodations/auxiliary aids are warranted, please list them along with a clear rationale and related functional limitations. Any accommodations/auxiliary aids will be taken into consideration, but not automatically implemented.

3.The expected progression or stability of disability over time If possible, provide a description of the expected change in the functional impact of the condition(s) over time. If the condition is variable, describe the known triggers that may exacerbate the condition.

A diagnostic statement identifying the disability When appropriate, include International Classification of Diseases (ICD) or Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) codes, the date of the most recent evaluation, or the dates of evaluations performed by referring professionals. If the most recent evaluation was not a full evaluation, indicate when the last full evaluation was conducted.