Essential components:

• Qualified Evaluator. The documentation should include the name, title, and professional credentials of the evaluator, including information about license or certification, typed on letterhead, dated, and signed by the evaluator. Professionals qualified to conduct evaluations include clinical or educational psychologists; school psychologists; neuropsychologists; and some medical doctors with demonstrated training and experience in the assessment of learning disorders in adolescents and adults. Use of diagnostic terminology indicating a diagnosis of a specific learning disorder by someone whose training and experience is not in these fields and who is not qualified to conduct a comprehensive valid intellectual assessment (i.e., IQ measures) is not acceptable.
• NOTE: Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia are medical terms referencing the educational terms Specific Learning Disorder specific to areas of reading, writing, or math. These diagnoses terms may be used interchangeably (i.e., Dyslexia/Learning Disorder in Reading), and these Specific Learning Disorder documentation guidelines apply, in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V).
• Current. Reasonable accommodations and services are based on assessment of the current impact of the student's disabilities on academic performance. Student needs are best assessed when the student provides recent and appropriate documentation, within a timeframe of at least 16 years of age to determine current impact.
• Description of educational background and relevant developmental history
• Psychoeducational evaluation which provides clear evidence of a Specific Learning Disorder based on objective measures demonstrating a substantial limitation to learning. Report is to include:
• –Aptitude/Cognitive Ability. A comprehensive valid intellectual assessment reporting all subtests and standard scores. Preferred tests include Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – IV (WAIS-IV) or Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Cognitive Ability. (Brief forms are not intended for diagnosis.)

_ Academic Achievement. A comprehensive academic achievement battery which assesses areas of reading, writing, verbal expression, math, and fluency. Preferred tests include Wechsler Individual Achievement Test–III (WIAT-III) or Woodcock-Johnson-IV Tests of Achievement.

• –Memory and Information Processing. Evaluation of different cognitive processes are often derived from subtests on cognitive and achievement