A SURVEY OF CURRENT UNDERSTANDINGS & BEST PRACTICES FOR DIAGNOSING
LEARNING DISABILITIES
1
Provincial legislation such as Bill 82 requires post-secondary institutions to
accommodate students diagnosed with disabilities.

True

False

I don't know
2
Disability legislation such as the OHRC was intended to help individuals with
disabilities improve their academic success and testing performance.

True

False

I don't know
3
Studies show that clinicians are not able to reliably determine whether a student
is answering honestly and investing good effort in testing without the aid of
specific effort tests.

True

False

I don't know
4
Testing organizations (e.g., ETS, MCAT) have the right to request complete
documentation (including report cards, transcripts, testing data, and a rationale
for the diagnosis) in support of an accommodations request.

True

False

I don't know
5
A student identified prior to college/university under special education laws (such
as Bill 82) would automatically qualify for accommodations at college/university.

True

False

I don't know
6
If an individual has been assigned a clinical diagnosis of LD, he or she
automatically qualifies as disabled under the OHRC.

True

False

I don't know
7
Under the OHRC, an individual with a measured Full Scale IQ of 135 and a
reading standard score of 110 could, because of the discrepancy in scores,
qualify for accommodations as Reading Disabled.

True

False


I don't know
8
In Ontario, test anxiety is not a legitimate basis for declaring an individual as
disabled.

True

False

I don't know
9
The purpose of accommodations is to allow a disabled individual to perform at
his or her best.

True

False

I don't know
10
To demonstrate the need for accommodations, clinicians should determine
impairment by comparing a patient's test scores with norms for students at
similar education levels.

True

False

I don't know
11
Individuals who have graduated from college/university without any prior
diagnosis or formal accommodations might still meet professional criteria for LD
because of the increased level of difficulty present in graduate school.

True

False


I don't know
12
To be considered disabled at the post-secondary level, an individual had to show
impairment when compared with an average person in the population.

True

False

I don't know
13
Relative discrepancies between cognitive abilities and academic achievement
are not a sufficient basis for making a diagnosis of adult LD.

True

False

I don't know
14
A diagnosis of LD may be made on the basis of one or two outlier scores that are
significantly discrepant from the overall pattern of performance.

True

False

I don't know
15
Most post-secondary documentation guidelines require that evaluations be
conducted within 3 to 5 years of the accommodations request.

True

False

I don't know
16
The purpose of a clinical evaluation for patients seeking accommodations is to
help secure those accommodations.

True

False

I don't know
17
The purpose of the OHRC is to outlaw discrimination against individuals with
disabilities, not to optimize their academic performance.

True

False

I don't know
18
Clinicians providing documentation are required to demonstrate how each
proposed accommodation alleviates the impact of the disability.

True

False

I don't know
19
An individual can be considered disabled even if performance on timed, multiplechoice exams is their only area of weak functioning.

True

False

I don't know
20
To assign a diagnosis of LD, the clinican must first firmly rule out other
psychiatric and physiological disorders that may better account for symptoms.

True

False

I don't know
21
If an individual is diagnosed with LD, the institution must provide any and all
accommodations that the applicant believes will be beneficial.

True

False

I don't know
22
Evidence that an individual reads slowly is sufficient to justify an accommodation
of extra time.

True

False

I don't know
23
Self-reports of early academic struggles or current problems are insufficient
bases for documenting impairment.

True

False

I don't know
24
To assist a student in obtaining test accommodations, it is appropriate to make a
diagnosis of LD even if clinical data do not completely meet agreed-on diagnostic
criteria such as those in the DSM-IV.

True

False

I don't know
Thank you very much for taking the time to fill out our survey!
Approved Practitioners

I would like to be considered by The Justin Eves Foundation to be an “Approved Practitioner”
and have the below contact information displayed on the website
www.justinevesfoundation.com as a resource for students needing an updated psychoeducational assessment.
Yes
No
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