Registration Under the ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Students are encouraged to contact the associate dean for learning skills to discuss issues related to their learning disability and the college environment. A student must register with the associate dean by submitting a Student Disability Registration Form (download PDF or Doc) and making sure that her clinician has forwarded a copy of her testing documentation as well as a Clinician's Disability Certification Form (included in above files). Documentation is not transferred from the admission office.

Documentation from an appropriate service provider must date from within three years. For documenting a learning disability, the assessment must include a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and/or the standard and supplemental batteries of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities-III, as well as an achievement battery focusing on the student's present functioning in reading, written expression, and mathematics. The documentation must include other cognitive tests appropriate in identifying the specific learning disability. Recommendations related to skills development and reasonable accommodation are also important components of the documentation. The documentation must be accompanied by the Clinician's Disability Certification Form.

It is encouraged that the documentation for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder include a full history of the student, a cognitive battery, achievement battery, and testing focused on the attention issues. The documentation and diagnosis must be on professional letterhead, typed, and accompanied by the Clinician's Disability Certification Form. The student must also submit the Disability Registration Form-Request for Accommodations.

Once the documentation is submitted and the student registers under the Americans with Disabilities Act (both the Student Disability Registration form and the Clinician's Disability Certification Form are on file), the student must meet with the associate dean to discuss her learning profile and how her strengths and challenges may play out at Mount Holyoke. Appropriate accommodations are based on each student's particular needs in relationship to accommodations deemed reasonable by the associate dean. If an accommodation is denied, the student can appeal the decision to the Accommodations Review Board. Also, requests for accommodations must be timely in order to give faculty and staff lead time to put the accommodations into place. In other words, it is best for a sudent to register with the associate dean and provide documentation when she enters MHC, even if sh does not need any accommodations at that time. Then if she finds she needs support, the paperwork and documentation are already in place and the associate dean is aware of her situation.