Eligibility Documentation
Disability Documentation Guidelines
Conestoga College is committed to providing a safe and accessible environment for students with disabilities. Accommodating disabilities at the College is a shared responsibility between students, faculty and administration. Students are responsible for providing relevant and up to date documentation of their disability to Disability Services, when they first register. This documentation will allow the student to be considered for accommodations and access to available services.
Physical and Medical Disabilities
For all physical and medical disabilities, documentation either needs to be on the letterhead of a health practitioner or on our Health Certificate Form (pdf).
What types of disabilities does the Physical and Medical Disability category include?
Physical and Medical Disabilities include:
- Mobility, Functional
- Blind or low vision
- Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing
- Acquired brain injury
- Chronic illness/systemic /medical
- Psychiatric
- Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
Who can provide this documentation?
Documentation must be provided by a qualified health practitioner who has training in and experience with the area of diagnosis. It is recommended to students to seek documentation from a health care practitioner who is familiar with their disabilities and can provide detailed information about this disability. Examples of qualified practitioners include:
- Audiologist
- Chiropractor
- Occupational Therapist
- Optometrist
- Ophthalmologist
- Physician
- Physiotherapist
- Psychiatrist
- Psychologist
- Speech-Language Pathologist
- Other ____________
What should the documentation contain?
Documentation needs to be on the letterhead of qualified health practitioner or on Conestoga’s Health Certificate Form and contain the following:
- Name, title, professional credentials, licensure/certification information of assessing professional
- Be based on evaluations completed within the past three years. In certain circumstances i.e. stable medical conditions, an older report may be accepted if accompanied by a letter from a qualified professional who provides an update.
- Accurately describe the current impact of the diagnosed condition as it relates to an academic setting
- Indicate the current anticipated course of the condition
- Describe any currently mitigating factors such as medications and their impact on learning
- Indicate date of next assessment/update
Disability Services reserves the right to request reassessment when there are questions regarding previous assessments or service provision.
Learning Disability Documentation
All Conestoga students with learning disabilities who request academic accommodations through Disability Services must provide a current formal psycho-educational assessment, completed and signed by a registered psychologist or psychological associate to support the diagnosis. Students may be able to access financial assistance to meet documentation requirements for a Learning Disability. Students may meet with a Disability Counsellor to discuss documentation requirements.
What if I had an IEP or IPRC at high school?
If you have never had a psycho education assessment, but have had an IEP or IPRC from high school please complete these two learning disability screeners (the LD Screener (pdf) and the Delta Screener (pdf)) and bring them (with all of your documentation) to your first appointment to meet with a Disability Counsellor.
What do I do if I suspect I have a learning disability?
If you have no previous documentation, but suspect you have a learning disability, make an appointment with a Counsellor from Counselling Services at ext. 3360 or with a Learning Skills Advisor at ext 2308 to have a learning disability screening done at your campus.
Who can provide a formal psycho educational assessment?
The assessment must:
- Be conducted by a registered psychologist or registered psychological associate
- Include the name, title, professional credentials, licensure/certification information of assessing professional
How recent should the assessment be?
The assessment needs to be completed within the past five years or after the student’s 18th birthday.
What does the assessment need to include?
The assessment must include:
- Relevant background information
- A statement of the validity of the present assessment
- Behavioural observations during assessment
- A description of individuals strengths and needs based on formal standardized test results (including thinking and reasoning and academic achievement)
- Documented evidence of the cause of the learning difficulties (psychological processing deficits)
- A description of how the observed pattern of both abilities and achievement demonstrates the presence of a specific learning disability
- A clear diagnostic statement that the individual has a Learning Disability.
- A description of the specific impact of the disability on activities of daily living (including academic skills development).
- Recommendations specifically linked to processing strengths and deficits
- A signature by an appropriately qualified member of the College of Psychologists
Prospective students may meet with a Disability Counsellor to discuss documentation requirements. To arrange an appointment with a Disability Services Counsellor, call 519-748-5220 ext. 3232.