Requirements For Category A Documents

CATEGORY A Documentation:

An applicant relying on this Category can provide an independently authored letter or report from professionals who know the applicant well (repeated interactions, significant time spent with the applicant). Rather than focusing on the applicant’s diagnosis per se or the self-reported symptoms that led to the diagnosis, this documentation should speak to the applicant’s current functional limitations and challenges in major life activities or activities of daily living (not just test-taking), how these limitations interact with specific barriers, and what types of accommodations have been necessary to ensure equal access and reduce barriers. The letter should articulate the applicant’s current functional challenges, current barriers to access, and the accommodations or modifications that are made for the applicant in the setting in which the professional knows the applicant. A letter or report from a doctor or psychologist that merely states the applicant’s diagnosis may NOT meet the requirements of Category A.

The following types of professionals can provide documentation to an applicant under Category A. Again, this documentation of a disability requiring a testing accommodation should come from a professional who knows the applicant well through interactions on a regular basis:

• Employer or internship supervisor
• Medical or psychological professional involved in the applicant’s ongoing treatment, therapy, or assistance programming
• Vocational counselor
• Rehab counselor or program sponsor
• Physical therapist
• Faculty advisor
• Disability Services staff person
• Educational therapist

Documentation submitted under Category A must be sufficiently current to be relevant to the requested accommodation, and the professional must be neutral and unbiased. Documentation from friends or family members will NOT be accepted, regardless of their professional qualifications.

The letter or report for Category A must meet standard format guidelines:

• Be legible and printed in English
• Signed and dated
• Printed on the professional’s (or their institution’s) letterhead with contact information for the professional

The documentation should address the following:

1. How the professional knows the applicant well: The professional’s relationship to the applicant, how often this person has interacted with the applicant over the past 12 months, and detailed information that demonstrates that they know the applicant well (i.e., the applicant’s employer who interacts with applicant in the workplace every day).
2. The applicant’s current levels of functioning in the setting in which the professional knows the applicant well.
3. Current functional limitations and challenges in the setting in which the professional knows the applicant well.
4. Current barriers to access in the setting in which the professional knows the applicant well.
5. Accommodations or modifications in the setting in which the professional knows the applicant well.
6. Anticipated barriers to access on the OAA exam and how the requested accommodations will ensure equal access to the exam.

There are some important things that an applicant should note about Category A:

• The STREAMLINED PROCESS does not require a formal psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation or other medical records with a diagnosis.
• Documentation that focuses mainly on a medical or mental health diagnosis will not be sufficient to demonstrate why an accommodation is needed to ensure equal access to the OAA licensure exam. The focus should be on a discussion of the applicant’s functioning.
• Receiving an accommodation from an employer is not, by itself, sufficient evidence to demonstrate why an accommodation is needed to ensure equal access to the OAA licensure exam.
• Having the professional simply re-state whatever symptoms and complaints the applicant told the professional will not be adequate to satisfy this documentation requirement.
• Computer-generated reports or printouts of medical records are not necessarily required and often are not adequate.