Learning Disability Services
Academic accommodations for students with specific learning disabilities are provided by the Bryant University Academic Center for Excellence in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
To request academic accommodations, the student must make an appointment to meet with the Learning Specialist and submit current documentation to verify the specific learning disability.
Appointments may be made by coming to the Center, located to the left of Janikies Auditorium in the Unistructure, or by calling (401) 232-6567.
Testing must be comprehensive. Individual Education Programs/Plans (IEPs) are useful but are not sufficient documentation to establish the rationale for accommodations.
The following is a brief summary of the Guidelines:
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Qualifications of the evaluator
The report must include the name, title, and professional credentials of the examiner.
Professionals conducting assessment and rendering diagnoses of learning disabilities must be qualified to do so. Trained, certified and/or licensed school psychologists, clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, learning disabilities specialists, and other professionals with training and experience relevant to adults and their evaluation are typically involved in the process of assessment. Experience in working with an adult population is essential.
Medical doctors must provide evidence of experience in the field of learning disabilities.
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Date of Documentation
Bryant requests testing performed within the last three years.
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Clinical evidence of the presence of a learning disability
The evaluation report must rule out other causes of academic difficulty.
A diagnostic code based on the DSM - IV must be stated. There must be clear and specific evidence and identification of a learning disability. Individual learning styles and learning differences in and of themselves do not constitute a learning disability.
Standard scores are required; percentiles and grade equivalents are not acceptable unless standard scores are also included. In addition to actual test scores, interpretation of results is required. Test protocol sheets or scores alone are not sufficient.
Comprehensive testing must be administered using valid and reliable measures, such as:
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Aptitude
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (WAIS-R) or WAIS-III
Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (KBIT) is not a comprehensive measure and therefore is not suitable.
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Achievement
Current levels of functioning in reading, mathematics and written language are required.
Acceptable instruments include:
Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Achievement
Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
Stanford Test of Academic Skills (TASK)
Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
Specific achievement tests such as:
Test of Written Language - 3 (TOWL-3)
Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised
Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test
Wide Range Achievement Test - 3 (WRAT-3) and the Mini-Battery of Achievement (MBA) are not comprehensive measures of achievement and therefore are not suitable.
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Information Processing
Specific areas of information processing (e.g., short- and long-term memory; sequential memory; auditory and visual perception/processing; processing speed) must be assessed.
Information from subtests on the WAIS-R (or WAIS-III), the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability, or the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude-Adult (DTLA-A), as well as other instruments relevant to the presenting learning problem(s) may be used to address these areas.
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Evaluator's rationale to support the need for academic accommodations at the college level
The evaluator must include a detailed summary of the impact of the specific learning disability on academic performance as well as the significance of the impact in college.
The evaluator must suggest recommendations for reasonable academic accommodations in college and support each recommendation with specific test results and clinical observations.
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