Documentation Guidelines

Disability Documentation Overview

Student Accessibility Services (SAS) engages in an interactive process with each student to determine appropriate accommodations and/or auxiliary aids and services for their academic, housing, and campus access needs. As part of the process, students need to provide information regarding their need for disability-related accommodations. To qualify as a person with a disability, a student must have a physical and/or mental impairment(s) which substantially limits one or more major life activity. Students who do not have documentation of their condition, and/or who believe they have an undiagnosed impairment, should contact SAS to discuss their circumstances further. SAS can work with students experiencing a barrier to accessing academic, co-curricular, residential, or campus activities to identify resources to support them while they are connecting with a treatment provider. Students with disabilities must satisfy Yale’s academic, conduct and safety standards, with or without reasonable accommodations.

Guidelines for Documentation

Documentation can be provided as an attachment to students’ Accommodations Request form online in Accommodate or can be submitted securely to SAS by FAX at 203-432-8250 or by email to sas@yale.edu.

In certain circumstances, SAS may require additional documentation, and SAS will inform students what additional documentation is needed. All accommodation requests will be carefully considered as part of the interactive process. SAS is responsible for determining reasonable accommodations based on the information provided, the functional limitations associated with the disability, and the academic or clinical requirements of the program, as well as residential considerations. 

Documentation should include the following:

Documentation must be typed in English, on letterhead, signed, and dated.

  1. CREDENTIALS should be provided by an appropriately licensed or credentialed professional who has relevant experience and no personal relationship with the requesting student.
  2. DIAGNOSIS should include a description of the diagnostic criteria, and date of diagnosis, along with observation/clinical impressions. If the student is in the process of being diagnosed, please indicate what conditions are being considered as a result of the functional limitations the student is experiencing, and the timeframe for formal diagnosis. 
  3. FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS should include the current impact of the disabling impairment(s) and describe the severity and frequency of the condition(s) on one or more major life activities.
  4. PROGNOSIS should clearly describe the chronic or episodic nature of the disability, and outline conditions or situations that have or reasonably may trigger reoccurrence.
  5. MITIGATION should include what treatments (including but not limited to medications, equipment, therapy, etc.) can diminish or offset the functional limitations resulting from the disability, by what degree and for how long.

Forms

The following forms are provided as one way of obtaining documentation from a health care provider. Providers may substitute the form with a letter. Providers should refer to the forms for the information that should be included in a letter depending on the student’s diagnosis and/or requested accommodation. Students should complete the first part of the appropriate form, granting permission for their provider to share disability information with SAS, regardless of whether the provider completes the form or drafts a letter. 

Academic Accommodation Requests Form

Housing Accommodations Request Forms

G&P Local 33 Employment Accommodations Form

  • Healthcare Provider/Specialist Form: Provider documentation form for Graduate and Professional students who are research and teaching fellows and members of Local 33 and are requesting employment accommodations.

*When a provider shares password protected documents, the student is responsible for sharing the password with SAS to review the documentation.