Documenting Hidden Disabilities in Higher Education: Analysis of Recent Guidance From the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD).

Lovett, Benjamin J.; Nelson, Jason M.; Lindstrom, Will

Once students with disabilities leave high school, they must take proactive steps to document their disabilities to educational institutions or employers when requesting accommodations. The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) has been the principal organization offering suggestions on documentation requirements, and AHEAD’s recently revised guidance involves radical changes to the suggested requirements. AHEAD now recommends that students’ self-reports and disability services professionals’ impressions take precedence over external, objective records. This article reviews the relevant research to evaluate the evidence base for the revised guidance, finding it lacking in important ways as it applies to hidden disabilities (learning, cognitive, and psychiatric disabilities). The evidence supporting various sources of disability documentation is reviewed, and implications for policy and practice are discussed.

GOVERNMENT policy; DOCUMENTATION; EDUCATION; INTERVIEWING; MALINGERING; PEOPLE with disabilities; SELF-evaluation; TRUST; UNITED States. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; AMERICANS with Disabilities Act of 1990; SELF advocacy; EVALUATION

Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 2015, Vol 26, Issue 1, p44

1044-2073

Academic Journal

10.1177/1044207314533383