Documenting a Disability

In order to provide a clear and equitable process for requesting accommodations, Wake Forest University has adopted the following documentation guidelines. Students and parents are encouraged to refer professional evaluators to these guidelines before submission of documentation for an accommodation request.

Records are kept confidential per CLASS policy but can be accessed as needed by CLASS and Deacon Health staff.

Documentation Guidelines

1. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation. Documentation should be obtained from a licensed medical or mental health professional who is not a relative of the student requesting accommodations.
2.  Up-to-date documentation. Documentation should be current, typically within the last five years, with some variability based on the condition. More recent documentation may be requested for conditions where symptoms vary over time, such as some anxiety based-conditions or medical conditions with fluctuating symptoms over time.
3. Required elements of documentation:
   1. Presented on letterhead. Should include contact information as part of the letterhead to aid in follow up as needed.
   2. Diagnosis. Please include date diagnosed and most recent evaluation.
   3. List of procedures or tests used to determine diagnosis. These will vary by disorder but might include medical evaluations, clinical interview, cognitive tests, achievement tests, academic fluency tests and/or rating scales. If standardized testing is administered, please include subtest, scale and total scores from all tests administered as well as an interpretation of the results.
   4. Functional Impact of the Diagnosis. Common major life activities that might be impacted in an academic environment by a disability diagnosis include seeing, hearing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, and communicating.
   5. Anticipated duration of functional impact. Is this a condition that follow up is needed to determine functional impact after a set time period? (6 months? 1 year?) Or is functional impact anticipated for the duration of studies at Wake Forest University.
   6. Recommended accommodations in an academic environment. Including how those accommodations would reduce the functional impact of the disability diagnosis.
   7. Known history of use of accommodations in academic environments.

How do I submit my documentation?

Documentation may be submitted to our office in one of three ways:

1. Emailed as a single .pdf file. This is the preferred method. The email address for documentation submission is class@wfu.edu or documentation can be uploaded through the Student Portal.
2. Sent by fax to our office. Our fax number is: 336-758-2455
3. Sent by mail to our office.
   Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success
   Wake Forest University Box 7283
   Winston Salem, NC 27109
4. It is not required, but if it would be helpful your provider can use this provider form to document a disability and need for accommodations. A printable version of our guidelines for documentation is available to share with professional evaluators.

Need Help?

Please feel free to contact our office with any questions about the above guidelines.

If you had accommodations in your prior school but do not have current or complete documentation, submit the documentation that you have, and we may be able to grant provisional accommodations to allow time to obtain a comprehensive and updated documentation.

If you are concerned you may have a disability that is impacting your academic performance but have no prior history of accommodations, use our Student Portal to request an appointment with a CLASS staff member. We can provide screening services to help make a more informed decision before seeking an evaluation and are able to provide referrals to local providers.

If you need more information, please contact CLASS by email (class@wfu.edu) or call 336-758-5929.