The type of documentation you need to provide Accessible Education Services depends on the type of disability you have. In general, your documentation should:
- be written by a health care professional who is qualified to diagnose the condition
- identify the difficulties it may have on you in school or at work.
It may include recommendations for accommodations but this is not essential.
What to do Once you Have the Documentation
Please be sure to get your documentation to us before your appointment with your counsellor.
Types of Documentation
Click below for more information about the documentation requirements for each type of disability that impacts you:
Learning Disabilities
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Mild Intellectual Disabilities
Acquired Brain Injury
Mental Health/Psychiatric Disabilities
Blind or Vision Impairment
Deaf/deafened or hard-of-hearing
Medical Conditions
Mobility Impairments
Autism or Aspergers
Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities are diagnosed by a psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychological associate or a pediatrician. The person who diagnoses this for you will write a Psychoeducational Assessment Report which is a multi-page report that describes the testing that was done, the results of the testing, the diagnosis and related recommendations for accommodation.
If you don’t have a copy, check with your parents, your high school or your school board.
If you have a psychoeducational report that is more than 5 years old, please submit a copy of it to Accessible Education Services. Fleming will accept psychoeducational assessments over 5 years old.
Keep in mind!
Financial Aid and OSAP rules MAY have different requirements for documentation!
If all you have is your high school IEP, you may be able to use that to access interim accommodations while you and your counsellor work to get you a psycho-educational assessment.
If you have never been diagnosed with a learning disability, never had an IEP in school, but think you might have a learning disability, book an appointment with a counsellor who can discuss your options with you.
If you have concerns about disclosing your diagnosis, please see Does my documentation have to include my diagnosis?
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
This condition may be diagnosed by a psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychological associate or a physician with relevant training. The documentation therefore may be a Psychoeducational Assessment Report (which is a multi-page report that describes the testing that was done, the results of the testing, the diagnosis and related recommendations for accommodation) or a physician’s report.
If you have a psychoeducational report that is more than 5 years old, please submit a copy of it to Accessible Education Services. Fleming will accept psychoeducational assessments over 5 years old. Keep in mind, Financial Aid and OSAP rules may have different requirements for documentation.
If you were diagnosed by your doctor, or if your doctor can confirm the diagnosis, you can ask them to complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form for your documentation.
If you have never been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, never had an IEP in school, but think you might have ADD or ADHD, book and appointment with a counsellor who can discuss your options with you.
If you have concerns about disclosing your diagnosis, please see Does my documentation have to include my diagnosis?
Mild Intellectual Disabilities
Mild Intellectual Disabilities are diagnosed by a psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychological associate. The person who diagnoses this for you will write a Psychoeducational Assessment Report which is a multi-page report that describes the testing that was done, the results of the testing, the diagnosis and related recommendations for accommodation.
If you don’t have a copy, check with your parents, your high school or your school board.
If you have a psychoeducational report that is more than 5 years old, please submit a copy of it to Accessible Education Services. Fleming will accept psychoeducational assessments over 5 years old. Keep in mind, Financial Aid and OSAP rules may have different requirements for documentation.
If all you have is your high school IEP, you may be able to use that to access interim accommodations and you and your counsellor will decide together whether your should get a psycho-educational assessment.
If you have never been diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability, never had an IEP in school, but think you might have a mild intellectual disability, book and appointment with a counsellor who can discuss your options with you.
If you have concerns about disclosing your diagnosis, please see Does my documentation have to include my diagnosis?
Acquired Brain Injury
Brain injuries are usually diagnosed by a neurologist who may or may not have written a detailed report. However, you may have been assessed by a neuropsychologist, who would have written a multi-page report describing the injury, the testing that was done with you, the results of the testing and recommendations.
You may also have worked with an Occupational Therapist who also would have written one or more reports about your progress.
So, you may already have a lot of documentation about your condition and some of it will be out of date and some is more current. We don’t need all of your documentation. What you will need to provide is something with a diagnosis and something with the most recent description of how your condition impacts you today. If it also includes recommendations for academic accommodations, that would be very helpful.
If your documentation is out of date or too much to find the right information, you may want your health care provider to complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form for your documentation.
If you have concerns about disclosing your diagnosis, please see Does my documentation have to include my diagnosis?
Mental Health/Psychiatric Disabilities
Mental health disabilities may be diagnosed by a psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychological associate, a psychiatrist or a physician with relevant training. The documentation therefore may be a psychological report or a physician’s report.
Your documentation should include
- Whether the condition is permanent or temporary
- Whether the symptoms are continuous or episodic/recurring
- Whether a diagnosis has been made or if you are still being assessed
- Whether any medications you are taking negatively affects your academic functioning and if so, how, and do the effects happen at a particular time in the day?
- Impacts of your condition on your cognitive skills and abilities
- Impacts of your condition on your physical skills and abilities
- Impacts of your condition on your social-emotional skills and abilities
- Impacts of your condition on your fieldwork-specific skills and abilities
- Safety concerns (relevant for conditions which require the college to respond in an emergency if symptoms of your condition appear while you are on campus or during fieldwork such as seizures or severe allergic reactions)
- Any specialized equipment or services you need
All of this information can be obtained from your mental health practitioner using the Functional Limitations form or the OSAP Disability Verification Form.
If you were diagnosed but don’t have any documentation, you can have the health care professional who made the diagnosis or who is best able to complete a form about your disability and related accommodation needs, complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form.
If you have never been diagnosed with a mental health disability, but think you might have one, book and appointment with a counsellor who can discuss your options with you.
If you have concerns about disclosing your diagnosis, please see Does my documentation have to include my diagnosis?
Blind or Vision Impairment
Your health care provider, such as your optometrist, may provide the documentation you need. They can complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form or you may already have a report from them. Your documentation should include the degree to which your sight is affected. Recommended accommodations are also helpful.
Deaf/deafened or hard-of-hearing
Your health care provider, such as your audiologist, may provide the documentation you need. They can complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form or you may already have a report from them. It should be a written report – your counsellor is not able to read and interpret audiograms. Your documentation should include the degree to which your hearing is affected. Recommended accommodations are also helpful.
Medical Conditions
Your health care provider, such as your family doctor, nurse-practitioner, or a specialist, may provide the documentation you need. They can complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form or you may already have a report from them. Your documentation should include the related symptoms and any side effects from medications that may impact you in school. Recommended accommodations are also helpful.
Most doctors just write a little note on a prescription form. This is not acceptable documentation. If you need to get your doctor to write a note explaining your disability, please use the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form.
Mobility Impairments
Your health care provider, such as your family doctor, nurse-practitioner, or a specialist, may provide the documentation you need. They can complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form or you may already have a report from them. Your documentation should include the related symptoms that may impact you in school. Recommended accommodations are also helpful.
Most doctors just write a little note on a prescription form. This is not acceptable documentation. If you need to get your doctor to write a note explaining your disability, please use the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form.
Autism or Aspergers
This condition may be diagnosed by a psychologist, neuropsychologist, psychological associate, or a physician with relevant training. The documentation therefore may be a Psychoeducational Assessment Report (which is a multi-page report that describes the testing that was done, the results of the testing, the diagnosis and related recommendations for accommodation) or a physician’s report.
If you have a psychoeducational report that is more than 5 years old, please submit a copy of it to Accessible Education Services. Fleming will accept psychoeducational assessments over 5 years old. Keep in mind, Financial Aid rules may have different requirements for documentation.
If you were diagnosed by your doctor, or if your doctor can confirm the diagnosis and make relevant accommodation recommendations, you can ask them to complete the OSAP Disability Verification Form or the Functional Limitations form for your documentation.