Access and Disability Services
Documentation Guidelines
ADS considers each student’s history, experiences, and requests as part of the review process. While students are a vital source of information, in order to determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations, students are also asked to provide documentation.
Documentation often provides detailed information that assists ADS in understanding how a disability impacts the student in an academic setting, as well as the current impact of the disability in relation to the accommodations requested. Based on this information, additional accommodations not originally requested may be discussed so that the student is aware of all possible options.
ADS follows guidance from the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) on documentation review and approval.
ADS will review and consider all pieces of documentation that are submitted. There are multiple ways to provide ADS with documentation of your disability. Some examples of acceptable disability documentation include:
- Full evaluation/diagnostic report
- IEP/504 plan
- Medical records/patient portal diagnostic summary
- Letter from a healthcare professional, psychologist, therapist etc. on letterhead
- Accommodation letter from previous post secondary institution
- Phone call between ADS and health care provider or counselor with the student’s written consent.
Professionals and health care providers who are providing documentation, conducting assessments, and making recommendations for accommodations must be qualified to do so.
What to Include
The following information is helpful in order to determine the best possible accommodations and support:
- History of the disability–relevant information from the student’s past experiences as related to their disability or condition
- Severity of the disability or condition
- Description of current symptoms or functional limitations and how they will impact the student in a post-secondary institution
- Description of current and/or past treatment and/or medication
- Recommended accommodations that may support the student in relation to the functional limitations. (Please note that recommendations are helpful in considering options, but not all accommodations that a student received in high school are applicable to post-secondary education.)
Students who have readily observable permanent disabilities (e.g. wheelchair user) do not need to submit documentation. Instead, they can submit their Voluntary Disability and Accommodations Disclosure Form and ADS will contact them for a meeting to discuss accommodations.
Submit Your Documentation
Send your documentation (listed in order of preference) to ADS:
- Email a PDF of your documentation to hc-ads@haverford.edu
- Fax documentation to (833) 243-2760
- Mail documentation to: Access and Disability Services, Haverford College, 370 W Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041
Questions regarding documentation? Please contact ADS at hc-ads@haverford.edu
We're Here to Help
We understand it may be difficult to obtain disability documentation and want you to receive the support you need! Please contact us with any documentation concerns so we can help.
If providing documentation is a financial hardship, ADS will work with you to help fund testing if deemed necessary and/or assist in finding a health care professional for an appointment / evaluation.
Please know that ADS is here to work with all students and does not want a lack of documentation to cause a delay in reaching out. Please contact ADS with any documentation concerns.