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Step 1 in registering with Accessible Learning requires you to do the following:
Once we receive (a) your registration form and (b) your disability documentation, we will email your myLaurier email address about next steps.
We recognize that a person's name is central to their identity so getting your name right is important to us.
To ensure we have it correct, and that our system correctly picks up your preferred name from Banner, visit Preferred Name at Laurier.
Students seeking academic accommodations for reasons of a disability at Laurier are required to submit documentation to support their request.
Disability documentation supports academic accommodation planning by:
To access the correct form, select the category that best reflects your disability or disabilities. Ask a healthcare practitioner who is qualified to diagnose and treat your disability to complete your form.
Note: Students are NOT obligated to disclose their medical diagnosis to Accessible Learning when seeking academic accommodations for reasons of a disability at Laurier. Indicating the category that best reflects your disability is not the same as disclosing your diagnosis. Information about your disability category helps Accessible Learning effectively and efficiently assess your needs and design appropriate accommodation and support plans.
Email the Accessible Learning Intake Coordinator if you (a) do not know which category best reflects your disability, (b) require our forms in alternate format, or (c) have questions about our documentation requirements.
Examples of attention disability include Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
Acceptable documentation includes either:
Whether submitting an assessment or completing the Accessible Learning Disability Verification Form, confirming an ADHD/ADD diagnosis for students at Laurier must be based on the following criteria:
In assessing students for ADHD/ADD, qualified clinicians must base their diagnosis, at minimum, on the following:
Practitioners must verify either in an assessment report or on the Accessible Learning Disability Verification Form they have diagnosed the student with ADHD/ADD in accordance with the above criteria.
Laurier does not accept documentation or assessments confirming an ADHD/ADD diagnosis made solely from a symptom count-based checklist or rating scale.
Laurier does not accept assessments from online clinics like Frida and ACE Clinics which currently do not meet our standards.
Qualified medical professionals with training in differential diagnosis of ADHD and other psychiatric disorders who may complete Laurier’s documentation include:
1Individuals can exhibit ADHD symptoms in childhood but not be diagnosed until adulthood because of dismissive attitudes or because supportive environments and/or cognitive strengths mitigated childhood symptoms (Mitchell et al., 2019).
Mitchell, J. T., et al. (2019). A qualitative analysis of contextual factors relevant to suspected late-onset ADHD. Journal of Attention Disorders, 25(5), 724–735. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054719837743.
Examples of brain injury include acquired brain injury, concussion, or post-concussive syndrome.
You may be required to provide updated documentation throughout your degree in order to determine if your disability remains, if functional limitations have changed, and if accommodations are still required.
Acceptable documentation includes either:
Medical professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Examples of autism spectrum disorder include autism spectrum disorder or social pragmatic communication disorder.
Acceptable documentation includes either:
Medical professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Examples of a hearing-related disability include deaf, deafened, hearing loss, central auditory processing disorder.
Acceptable documentation includes either:
Medical professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Acceptable documentation includes a Psycho-Educational Assessment completed using Adult Measures.
A Psycho-Educational Assessment must include the following:
Medical professionals qualified to complete documentation include (signature required):
Examples of a medical disability include cancer, diabetes, epilepsy/seizure disorder, or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Acceptable documentation includes:
Medical Professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Examples of mental health or psychiatric disability include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Eating Disorder, etc.
In accordance with the Policy on Accessible Education for Students with Disabilities (2018) by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, students are not required to disclose a mental health related diagnosis in order to access accommodations.
Instead documentation must confirm the presence of a diagnosis and provide sufficient information regarding functional limitations in the postsecondary environment.
Acceptable documentation includes:
Medical Professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Acceptable documentation includes:
Medical professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Examples of vision-related disability include cataracts, glaucoma, nystagmus, retinal detachment or blindness.
Note: Laurier does not accept documentation citing Irlen Syndrome as the student's sole disability/condition. Laurier notes a statement by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists that Irlen Syndrome is not recognized by the medical community or the World Health Organization.
Acceptable documentation includes:
Medical professionals qualified to complete documentation include:
Students who do not have disability documentation may be eligible for interim accommodations and support while waiting to obtain documentation. Interim accommodations usually expire after one or two terms.
Students seeking interim accommodations should submit any documentation they have including Grade 12 Individual Education Plans (IEP), outdated psycho-educational assessments, or letters from health care providers (HCP). Letters must be dated, on original letterhead and contain the HCP's signature and license number.
Interim academic accommodations granted in:
Students must submit updated documentation before their interim accommodations expire.
Double-degree students who wish to use their accommodations for exams must register and book exam accommodations in accordance with published deadlines.
Laurier students with disabilities enrolled in a double degree program, and whose home institution is the University of Waterloo, must:
Accessible Learning and AccessAbility Services will try to provide identical accommodations across both institutions. After receiving the student's UW accommodation plan, Accessible Learning will input easily transferrable accommodations into our online system and email the student at their myLaurier email address instructions for how to access their accommodations and book their accommodated exams.
Students with more complex accommodations or those not easily transferred to the Laurier learning environment will be required to meet with the Inkake Coordinator or an Accessible Learning consultant. Students may also be asked to submit supporting documentation for accommodations, including documentation submitted to UW or new documentation.
Please contact the Accessible Learning Intake Coordinator with any questions.
Do not email a copy of your documentation to Accessible Learning. Due to security and privacy concerns, Accessible Learning cannot accept copies of documentation by email or fax.
Documentation must include all the pages, be legible and uploaded in a single PDF file. If taking photos of your documentation, convert the photos to a single PDF file.
Accessible Learning will not review documentation that is illegible or missing pages.
If you:
Contact Us:
Office Hours:
Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Office Locations:
Waterloo: Peters, P220
Brantford: One Market, 207-20
Exam Inquiries:
P: 1-548-889-3516
Intake Inquiries:
E: intakeALC@wlu.ca
P: 1-548-889-3515