Graduate Programs Accessibility Services

Students may fill out the Accommodation Request Form, which can also be requested from OGSS. Once complete, please submit to Olivia Zimra-Turley, associate director of student programs & affairs.

Please submit:

• Neuropsychological or psycho-educational report that includes client history, DSM diagnosis, level of severity, symptoms, functional limitations, diagnostic procedures, treatment plan (if any) and recommendations for accommodations in higher education. Cognitive assessments should include full scale scores, verbal, performance and index scores. Sub-test scores preferred.
• Written diagnostic report that includes:
  • The credentials of the evaluator
  • A clear diagnostic statement
  • The diagnostic methodology
  • Current functional limitations
  • Expected progression or stability of the disability
  • Current/past accommodations, services and/or medication(s)
  • Recommendations for accommodations in higher education
• If available, include information regarding cognitive or academic testing, and any prescribed medications.
• If you do not have this report, please contact OGSS documentation information.

Please submit:

• Neuropsychological or psycho-educational report that includes client history, DSM diagnosis, level of severity, symptoms, functional limitations, diagnostic procedures, and recommendations for accommodations in higher education. Cognitive assessments should include full scale scores, verbal, performance and index scores. Sub-test scores preferred
• Written diagnostic report that includes:
  • The credentials of the evaluator
  • A clear diagnostic statement
  • The diagnostic methodology
  • Current functional limitations
  • Expected progression or stability of the disability
  • Current/past accommodations, services and/or medication(s)
  • Recommendations for accommodations in higher education
• If you do not have this report, please contact OGSS documentation information.

Chronic health disabilities may include diabetes, asthma, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, allergies, migraines, sleep conditions, cancer, etc.

Please submit:

• Licensed clinical professional may fill out the Verification of Chronic Health Disability(ies) - Form for Medical Providers.

OR

• Diagnostic statement from a licensed clinical professional that includes diagnosis, level of severity, symptoms, expected duration, functional limitations (be as descriptive as possible), treatment (types and frequency) and recommendations for accommodations in a higher education environment.
• If available, include information regarding cognitive or academic testing, and any prescribed medications.

Mental health disabilities include anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, multi- personality disorder, eating disorders, etc.

Please submit:

• Licensed clinical professional may fill out the Verification of Mental Health Disability(ies) - Form for Medical Providers.

OR

• Written diagnostic report from a licensed clinical professional that includes client history, DSM diagnosis, level of severity, symptoms, functional limitations (be as descriptive as possible), diagnostic procedures, treatment plan (types and frequency) and recommendations for accommodations in higher education.
• If available, include information regarding cognitive or academic testing, and any prescribed medications.

Please submit:

• Copy of most recent audiogram.
• Diagnostic statement from a licensed clinical professional that includes etiology, type and severity of the hearing loss with and without assistive device, functional limitations, and recommendations.
• If available, include information regarding speech recognition threshold and use of amplification devices.

Please submit:

• Evaluation report from a licensed clinical professional including all measurements, data, visual fields, and visual acuity for each eye, with or without correction, if worn.
• Diagnostic statement including etiology, diagnosis, symptoms, prognosis, and treatment.
• If available, include phorias, fusional ranges, depth perception, and visual accommodation measurements.

Please submit:

• Licensed clinical professional may fill out the Verification of Physical Disability(ies) - Form for Medical Providers.

OR

• Diagnostic statement from a licensed clinical professional that includes diagnosis, level of severity, symptoms, expected duration, functional limitations (be as descriptive as possible), treatment (types and frequency) and recommendations for accommodations in a higher education environment.
• If available, include information about their mobility support device (What is it? Is it electric?), and any prescribed medications.

 

If you have already requested and been approved for accommodations through the Office of Student Services, and would like to request new or additional accommodations, you will need to submit a supplemental accommodation request. This request can be done by emailing the Associate Director of Student Affairs at olivia.zimra_turley@tufts.edu and including your updated clinical documentation. 

OGSS encourages any student who thinks that they might have a disability to get in touch with us. We can help determine whether or not documentation is needed, and if is needed, we can help students find an outside evaluator. Below is a referral evaluator list.

View List

 

Any Tufts University School of Medicine student seeking accommodations must provide documentation of their disability. Once we have that documentation, OGSS will meet with each student individually to determine what accommodations are best for them and what is possible given the requirements of the program.

There are four sources of documentation that OGSS takes into consideration:

1. The interactive process that the student completes with OGSS.
2. Recommendations of qualified professionals familiar with the student.
3. Documentation from outside sources, such as a professional diagnosis, observations by educators, and documentation noting past use of services (including services provided under and IEP or Section 504 Plan).
4. Documentation of previous accommodations provided to the student at educational institutions or testing agencies.

Documentation is necessary to inform our consideration of individualized accommodations. It is through the interactive process that the OGSS informs each student on a case-by-case basis when updated or additional documentation is necessary.

Diagnostic documentation is kept in a confidential file maintained by OGSS and is not part of the student’s academic transcript.

While your diagnostic documentation is kept confidential in our office, as university officials, the OGSS staff are mandatory reporters when it comes to sexual assault or recent suicidal attempts or plans. This means that any explicit references to either of these topics that we read about in your documentation or discussed in our meetings at OGSS requires us to connect you with confidential support resources on campus. If you have already reached out to these resources, or would prefer not to disclose, we encourage you to discuss the relevant diagnosis and symptoms/impact without disclosing details to the event that you’d prefer to keep confidential. If in the future, you would to be referred to the resources available on campus, we can help connect you.

OGSS needs sufficient information to determine eligibility and effective accommodations for each student.

Documentation must allow OGSS to understand how a student is currently impacted by disability and must be from within the last five years. Documentation must provide substantial and clear evidence that supports the need for higher education accommodations. If a disability fluctuates or is progressive, updated documentation may be required.