Appendix - Learning Disabilities

Recommendations for Consumers

1. For assistance in finding a qualified professional:

• contact the disability services coordinator at the institution you attend or plan to attend to discuss documentation needs; and
• discuss your future plans with the disability services coordinator. If additional documentation is required, seek assistance in identifying a qualified professional.

2. In selecting a qualified professional:

• ask what his or her credentials are;
• ask what experience he or she has had working with adults with learning disabilities; and
• ask if he or she has ever worked with the service provider at your institution or with the agency to which you are sending material.

3. In working with the professional:

• take a copy of these guidelines to the professional;
• encourage him or her to clarify questions with the person who provided you with these guidelines;
• be prepared to be forthcoming, thorough and honest with requested information; and
• know that professionals must maintain confidentiality with respect to your records and testing information.

4. As follow-up to the assessment by the professional:

• request a written copy of the assessment report;
• request the opportunity to discuss the results and recommendations;
• request additional resources if you need them; and
• maintain a personal file of your records and reports.

Tests for Assessing Adolescents and Adults

When selecting a battery of tests, it is critical to consider the technical adequacy of instruments including their reliability, validity and standardization on an appropriate norm group. The professional judgment of an evaluator in choosing tests is important.

The following list is provided as a helpful resource, but it is not intended to be definitive or exhaustive.

Aptitude

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (WAIS-R)
• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability
• Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test
• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (4th ed.)

The Slosson Intelligence Test - Revised and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test are primarily screening devices which are not comprehensive enough to provide the kinds of information necessary to make accommodation decisions.

Academic Achievement

• Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
• Stanford Test of Academic Skills
• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Achievement
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

or specific achievement tests such as:

• Nelson-Denny Reading Skills Test
• Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test
• Test of Written Language - 3 (TOWL-3)
• Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised

Specific achievement tests are useful instruments when administered under standardized conditions and interpreted within the context of other diagnostic information. The Wide Range Achievement Test - 3 (WRAT-3) is not a comprehensive measure of achievement and therefore is not useful if used as the sole measure of achievement.

Information Processing

Acceptable instruments include the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude - 3 (DTLA-3), the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude - Adult (DTLA-A), information from subtests on WAIS-R, Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability, as well as other relevant instruments.