Documentation Guidelines (ADHD) Page 1 of 4 Student Last Name:
Academic Support and Access Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave NW, Mary Graydon Center 243, Washington, DC 20016
202-885-3360 (p) 202-885-1042 (f) asac@american.edu
https://www.american.edu/provost/academic-access/index.cfm
ACADEMIC SUPPORT AND ACCESS CENTER
DOCUMENTATION GUIDELINES FOR REQUESTING
DISABILITY-RELATED ACCOMMODATIONS
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The Academic Support and Access Center (ASAC) provides reasonable accommodations to students with
documented disabilities to ensure equal access to educational programs and services at American
University (AU) in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American with
Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008.
Under the law, a disability is defined as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life
functions. To request accommodations, students must register with the ASAC, which includes providing
clinical documentation that meets the guidelines below.
To verify the disability and its severity, and to determine appropriate accommodations, the ASAC reviews
clinical documentation, the student’s self-report, and the program requirements for which the student is
enrolled. All documentation is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and accommodations are determined
through an interactive process. Submitting evidence of a diagnosis alone may not meet the standard of a
disabling condition or be sufficient to warrant accommodations. All accommodation recommendations
must be logically related to the student’s functional limitations based on evidence from the clinical
evaluation.
Students may submit their Individualized Educational Program (IEP), 504 plans, and/or history of
services that were previously received as supplemental information; however, these documents alone are
not adequate forms of documentation.
Professionals Who Can Provide Clinical Documentation
• Professionals with comprehensive training and experience in the relevant specialty and hold
appropriate licensure and/or certification. Appropriately qualified professionals typically include
psychologist, neuropsychologist, school psychologist, and neurologist.
• The provider must be familiar with the history and functional limitations of the student’s condition
and provide detailed information about the substantial nature and level of the impairment as well
as the impairment’s impact on major life functions.
• The documentation provided cannot be from a family member or someone with a personal
relationship with the student or student’s family.
Recency of Documentation
• Documentation must reflect the status of the student’s current functional limitations
