Disability Documentation Requirements For

Students with Asperger's Syndrome/Autism Spectrum Disorder

Binghamton University's office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) provides a wide range of assistance to enrolled students with disabilities, including Asperger's Syndrome. In order to establish eligibility for support services and/or reasonable accommodations, students with non-visible disabilities must provide disability documentation from a professional licensed or certified to diagnose and treat their disability(ies).

Disability documentation related to the need for cognitively based accommodations (e.g. testing modifications, note takers) must be completed by a licensed psychologist or a licensed neuropsychologist and must include the following items completed no earlier than the student's 10 th grade in high school:

• Diagnosis and DSM code
• History
• Observations
• Reports of psychological or neuropsychological testing in the form of either:
  • A complete neuropsychological report OR
  • A comprehensive standardized adult IQ test (we recommend the WAIS-III) and a comprehensive test of achievement (we recommend the Woodcock-Johnson). The results and interpretation of all sub-tests must be included.
• Students with a co-existing diagnosis of ADD must also provide the results of a comprehensive attentional assessment. We recommend the Trail Making Tests (part A and B) of the Halstead-Reitan, the Paced Auditory Serial Test (PASAT), or the Test of Variabilities of Attention (TOVA).
• Conclusions
• Summary
• Recommendations of accommodations

Additional insight related to behavioral, social, or emotional issues, and associated needs, may be provided by a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

These standards of acceptable documentation are designed to insure the integrity of SSD's eligibility criteria and provide our staff with meaningful information about the strengths, weaknesses, and disability-related needs of the students who seek our assistance. Thank for your understanding and cooperation.

B. Jean Fairbairn, Director                                              Bethany L. Beecher, LD Specialist

May 2005