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Supplemental Documentation Guidelines for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

In order to accurately assess the impact of an attention deficit disorder an examiner must evaluate an individual’s current cognitive functioning/processing. Cognitive functioning should be assessed in the domains areas and with the approved instruments identified below. Testing should not be more than five years old. Individuals are required to submit the standard scores and/or the percentile scores of any tests administered. Evaluations should also include a clinical narrative. These guidelines have been established in consultation with professional experts and are considered best practice in establishing an accurate diagnosis.

*An ADHD diagnosis alone will not necessarily establish disability status or warrant accommodations under the ADA. Discrepancy in test scores is not evidence of a need for accommodation if the lowest scores are in the average range or above. Accommodations should be necessary, reasonable, and appropriate. If making recommendations for accommodations it is useful for the evaluator to establish a clear link between the accommodations and the student’s functional limitations.

Cognitive functioning in the following domains should be assessed by one of the following instruments:


Aptitude/Cognitive Ability:

  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale –IV (WAIS-IV)
  • Woodcock-Johnson III – Tests of Cognitive Ability
  • Stanford-Binet 5 (SB5)
  • Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test

Academic Achievement:

  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test –III (WIAT-III)
  • Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery – III: Tests of Achievement
  • Nelson-Denny Reading Test (with standard and extended time)

Executive Functioning/Memory:

  • Subtests from the WAIS-IV
  • Woodcock-Johnson III – Tests of Cognitive Ability
  • Trail Making Test Parts A and B
  • Stroop Color and Word Test
  • Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
  • Wechsler Memory Scale –III (WMS-III)
  • California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)

Behavior Rating Scales

  • Brown Attention-Deficit Disorder Scale
  • Wender Utah Rating Scale
  • Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS)

Documentation should be submitted to the access specialist in the school in which you are enrolled.


Contact Us

Office of Disability Resources 
Student Disability Services
Jen Prosceo, Director
Taylor Hall
585-276-5075
disability@rochester.edu

 

Lynnett Van Slyke
University Ombuds and Associate Vice Provost of Disability Compliance
36 Wallis Hall
585-275-9125
l.vanslyke@rochester.edu