Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A Qualified Professional Must Conduct the Evaluation

• Name, title, professional credentials, licensure/certification information, and location of practice must be included on any reports submitted.
• Evaluators must have training in, and experience with, the differential diagnosis of ADHD in adolescents and/or adults.
• Appropriate professionals may include clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, school psychologists, psychiatrists or other specifically trained medical doctors.
• Evaluations performed by members of the student’s family are not acceptable.
• All reports must be signed by the evaluator, and should include a completed Upstate Medical University form (if feasible), as well as any additional information typed on letterhead.

Documentation Must Be Current

• Reports should, in general, be based on evaluations performed or updated within three years.
• Reports should describe the current impact of the diagnosed condition.
• Reports should mention any currently mitigating factors, such as medication.
• Reports should make recommendations appropriate to a postsecondary setting, preferably a medical school environment.

Documentation Must Be Comprehensive

• Reports should include a history (medical, psychosocial, academic, familial), and indicate compelling evidence of early impairment, even if not formally diagnosed in childhood.
• Reports should indicate evidence of current impairment, including the results of a clinical diagnostic interview and review of any psycho-educational tests performed to investigate the existence of an attention deficit disorder.
• A specific diagnosis must be included or specifically ruled out.
• The information collected by the evaluator must consist of more than self-report. 
• Reports including a diagnosis must demonstrate that DSM-IV criteria have been met.
• Any test scores must be included, along with an interpretation of each and a summary.
• Documentation should rule out alternative diagnoses and/or explanations for problems.
• Documentation should address any coexisting disorders, suspected coexisting disorders, or other confounding factors.
• Documentation must indicate whether or not the diagnosed condition rises to the level of a disability as defined by Section 504 and the ADA (substantially limiting a major life activity).
• There must be a clear indication of the individual student’s functional limitations.
• Documentation should include recommendations for accommodations that are directly related to functional limitations and relevant to a medical school environment if possible.
• If no prior accommodations have been provided, the qualified professional expert should include a detailed explanation as to why no accommodations were given in the past and why accommodations are needed now.
• A rationale, explaining why each recommendation for accommodation is appropriate, should be given.

Adapted from Learning and Disability Services, Dartmouth Medical School