Documentation Requirements for Students with Physical/Mobility Disabilities
UCLA is committed to ensuring equal access to educational opportunities for students with physical and mobility disabilities. To provide this access, the Center for Accessible Education (CAE) facilitates academic accommodations for regularly enrolled, matriculating students with disabilities.
Eligibility
In addition to the student’s declaration of disability and need for accommodation, the CAE requires current and complete documentation from the student’s diagnosing, treating medical provider. Qualified medical providers are licensed, non-familial, follow established practices in the field, and are most often physicians or licensed therapists.
Documentation must describe how the disability limits one or more major life activities and to what extent the student experiences disability-related, academic limitations. If your medical provider is submitting a letter in lieu of the attached verification form, it should contain ALL of the following information:
- Student’s name, ID number, and date of birth
- Name, Title, License Number, Address, and Signature of qualifying, diagnosing clinician
- Medical/clinical diagnosis
- Explanation and/or basis for diagnosis (tests, clinical interview, observations, history)
- Onset of condition, date clinician first treated student, most recent visit, expected duration of disability
- Current functional limitations
- Statement of the extent to which limitations are mitigated by treatment and side effects of treatment if any
- If making recommendations for specific accommodations: Justification for each recommended accommodation and the direct relationship to the functional limitations must be produced.
For acute or non-permanent conditions, documentation should be written within a reasonable timeframe relative to the disability.
Please note the following:
- Incomplete information may slow or delay the accommodation approval process.
- Depending on the nature of the condition, the CAE may require a comprehensive report (i.e., cognitive achievement test scores, audiogram, and/or other relevant information to determine reasonable accommodations).
- For observable/obvious disabilities, medical documentation may not be required when the accommodation requested is apparent or logical.