Guidelines for psychiatric/psychological disabilities

1. A Qualified Evaluator: Professionals conducting assessments, providing the diagnosis of psychiatric, psychological, behavioral and emotional disorders/syndromes and making recommendations for appropriate accommodations must be qualified to do so. Evaluators should include those licensed professionals with comprehensive training and expertise in mental health, skilled in differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, such as neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, counselors and psychiatric nurse practitioners. The documentation must:

• Include evaluator's name, title, and professional credentials

• Be on the professional's letterhead, typed, dated, signed and legible

• Evaluator may not be a family member

2. Documentation

Must be current: Reasonable accommodations are based on the current impact of a disability; therefore, it is essential for psychiatric/psychological documentation to address an individual's current level of functioning and present need for accommodations. Due to the changing nature of psychiatric and psychological disabilities, a report from a treating mental health professional completed within the past 12 months is considered current. The documentation must be updated annually.

Must be comprehensive: Documentation must include:

• Relevant developmental, historical, and familial information

• Evidence of current functional impairment

• Duration and severity of the disorder

• Expected progression or stability of the impact of the condition over time  

• A clearly stated diagnosis of psychiatric disorder, subtype if applicable, and diagnostic code

• A list of DSM-V diagnostic criteria as the basis for the diagnosis

• Evidence of the ruling out of other potential diagnoses

• A description of how the diagnosis substantially impacts a major life activity/activities

• Cannot include wording such as "seems to indicate" or "suggests"

• NOTE: Test anxiety, in and of itself, is not an accommodated disability  

• A description of current and past treatments, therapeutic techniques, assistive devices and medication used to alleviate the impact of the disability

• A description of current functional limitations of the individual in an academic environment. If the condition is episodic in nature, level of functioning should be assessed based on active phase of symptoms.

• A discussion of appropriate, specific recommendations for academic accommodations

• If psychological instruments have been used by the evaluator, testing should be current with an explanation of validity, reliability and purpose. Scores should be provided in raw, standardized and/or percentile ranks.

May include supporting information: To better understand and accommodate students with a psychological/psychiatric disability, other helpful documents may be provided. These include records of previous accommodations, high school IEPs or 504 plans, previous psychological evaluations, and teacher/employer reports.