Qualifying for Learning Disability Services

Disclosure of a disability is always voluntary. However, in order for Miami University to provide academic accommodations, you must identify yourself as having a disability. Although an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Section 504 plan, if you have one, may help identify services that have been effective for you in the past, these items presented by themselves do not meet Miami's documentation guidelines. This is because postsecondary education presents different demands than high school education, and what you need to meet these new demands may be different. Also, in some cases, the nature of a disability may change. If the documentation that you have does not meet the requirements, you will be notified in a timely manner what additional documentation you need to provide. You may need a new evaluation in order to provide the required documentation. In all cases it is essential that students provide sufficient documentation, in accordance with the requirements of university policy, that identifies and quantifies the disability for which accommodations are being sought. Documentation guidelines can be accessed in the Student Handbook or online (please refer to the documentation guidelines to determine requirements, content, acceptable assessment tests, materials to be included, and timing validity.

Documentation will be time/date stamped upon receipt. Notification will be sent to the requesting student usually within fourteen days of receipt. Notification may be in three possible formats:

• documentation is sufficient to meet the guidelines for entitlement services;
• documentation is sufficient, but does not meet the guidelines for entitlement services; or
• documentation is not sufficient and the office is requesting additional materials to make final determination regarding entitlement services.

If additional data is requested, the same procedures will occur upon receipt of the new documentation. This timeframe may be extended at peak times of the year due to the high volume of documents received.

Documentation can be sent via mail to:

The Rinella Learning Center
301 S. Campus Avenue, Room 14
Oxford OH 45056

Or via fax:
513.529.8799