Guidelines for Psycho-Educational Assessments

The term "Learning Disabilities" refers to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organisation or use of verbal and/or non-verbal information. These disorders result from impairments in one or more psychological processes related to learning, in combination with otherwise average abilities essential for thinking and reasoning. Learning disabilities are specific and not global impairments, and as such are distinct from intellectual disabilities.

Psychological assessments are also used for assessing attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Documentation for students with learning disabilities must be in the form of a psycho-educational assessment report that conforms to established standards, including but not limited to:

• The credentials and signature of the assessor, who must be a registered psychologist or psychological associate;
• A description of the procedures used for the assessment, including relevant contextual information;
• Evidence that appropriate psychometric testing has been employed, including instruments that have been validated against adult norms; 
• Information about the severity of the functional limitations experienced by the student;
• Ruling out of other possible explanations for the observed assessment results (differential diagnosis);
• An indication that the results are believed to be a reasonable representation of the student’s normal abilities; and
• Confirmation that a specific learning disability exists.

Test Scores

Reports must include actual test scores and/or percentiles for all standardized instruments administered during the assessment. Grade equivalents must be accompanied by standard scores and/or percentiles. Scores may be included in the report or provided as an addendum.

Recommendations

Documentation may also include recommendations as to the types of Academic Accommodations that might address a student’s specific disability-related needs.  However, the University retains ultimate decision-making authority as to which forms of Academic Accommodations may be granted based on the student's functional limitations in our context.

You may also wish to review the guidelines for when memory aids should be recommended.

Current and Up to Date

Learning Disabilities must have been assessed at age 18 or older, or within the last three years. Documentation that is more than three years old will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Students with outdated psychoeducational assessments seeking accommodations for ADHD and/or ASD-only can submit the Functional Assessment for Neurodevelopmental Conditions (ADHD or ASD) instead of undergoing a new assessment.