Academic Accommodations Testing

CFNA provides academic accommodations evaluations for adults age 18 and older. These evaluations are commonly requested for high-stakes standardized examinations, graduate and professional school testing, licensing examinations, and updated documentation for college or university disability services. CFNA does not evaluate children or adolescents for academic accommodations.

High-Stakes Exams and University Disability Documentation

Many adults seek an updated evaluation because a testing agency, college, university, graduate program, professional board, or disability services office requires current documentation before accommodations can be considered. This may include requests for accommodations on high-stakes exams, as well as documentation needed to access accommodations throughout the academic year.

Common referral contexts include the LSAT, MCAT, GRE, GMAT, DAT, state bar examinations, professional licensing exams, graduate school testing, college or university disability services, and situations where prior documentation is outdated, incomplete, or insufficient for the current request.

When an Evaluation May Be Helpful

An academic accommodations evaluation may be appropriate when an adult has a history of ADHD, learning disorder, acquired brain injury, psychiatric condition, medical condition, or other factors that interfere with academic or testing performance. It may also be useful when a high-achieving adult has been able to compensate for years but now faces demands that exceed their usual coping strategies.

The evaluation is designed to clarify whether there is objective evidence of functional limitation and, when supported, to explain why specific accommodations are clinically appropriate for the setting in which they are being requested.

What the Evaluation Can Clarify

• Whether ADHD, a learning disorder, processing speed weakness, memory difficulty, executive dysfunction, emotional factors, medical history, or acquired brain injury is affecting academic or testing performance
• Whether prior diagnoses remain supported by current data
• Whether the individual demonstrates functional limitations relevant to timed exams, reading, written expression, sustained attention, working memory, processing speed, or academic productivity
• Whether requested accommodations are supported by the evaluation findings
• What documentation may be useful for a testing agency, professional board, college, university, or disability services office

Documentation Requirements

Testing agencies and academic institutions often require more than a diagnosis. They may request current objective data, a developmental and educational history, evidence of functional impairment, relevant records, and a clear explanation connecting the evaluation findings to the accommodations being requested.

When accommodations are supported, the report is written to explain the clinical basis for the recommendations and the functional rationale behind them. Recommendations may address extended time, reduced-distraction testing, breaks, assistive technology, note-taking support, flexible attendance or deadlines, or other accommodations when supported by the findings and relevant to the setting.

Important Note About Approval

An evaluation does not guarantee that a testing agency, university, licensing board, or disability services office will approve accommodations. Those decisions are made by the reviewing organization. The purpose of the evaluation is to provide objective, clinically supported documentation of diagnosis, functional limitations, and accommodation recommendations when the data support them.

Accommodations That May Be Considered

Depending on the diagnosis, functional limitations, and requirements of the reviewing institution, accommodations may include:

1. Time: Extended time, stop-the-clock breaks, or additional breaks when supported by processing speed, attention, fatigue, medical, or other functional limitations.
2. Setting: Reduced-distraction testing, separate room testing, preferential seating, or environmental modifications when appropriate.
3. Response: Computer use for written responses, speech-to-text support, or other response-format modifications when supported by the data.
4. Presentation: Large print, repeated instructions, assistive technology, or alternate presentation of materials when clinically appropriate.
5. Academic-year supports: Accommodations through college or university disability services, which may include testing accommodations, note-taking support, recording lectures, deadline flexibility, or related supports when supported by the evaluation findings.

To discuss whether an academic accommodations evaluation is appropriate, please contact CFNA with the examinee’s age, current academic or testing context, the accommodations being requested, relevant deadlines, prior evaluation history, and any documentation requirements provided by the testing agency, school, university, or licensing board.