• Quantifying clinical assessments
• Developing accommodations as directly tied to the reported disability
• Reviewing policy that guides consistent decision making

The Example: Explaining the Problem

Access to services related to having a disability can break down without the individual puzzle pieces from different disabilities sectors being fit neatly into one another. This failure is most apparent when a person is attempting to transition between these disabilities areas. Consider conflicts between the below systems:

• High School vs. College Disabilities
  
  Complications arise when a person moves from high school special education programming to college enrollment. The philosophies of these two systems drive different interpretation of a disability definition, subsequent service eligibility and the kinds of services offered. Where the High School system defines students as disabled by not meeting their “potential,” the College system typically defines a person as being disabled when comparing their limitations to the average person in the general population.
   
• University vs. Separate Testing and Licensing Organizations
  
  Many college and university policies defining disabilities and accommodations are not consistent with the policies defining disabilities accommodations on standardized tests. The most common standardized tests are the GRE, GMAT, SAT, MCAT, and BAR exams.
  Consider a law student with a Learning Disabilities diagnosis has received accommodations throughout law school. This student may not be considered Learning Disabled when applying for additional time in which to take the Bar exam.
  The student’s misalignment in disabilities definitions often results from limited clinical descriptions of the learning disorder. Often a clinical assessment is described in terms of a person not meeting his potential. The severity of a condition is rarely described in terms of the person being limited relative to the average person in the general population.
   
• Therapy vs. Medication Based Treatment
  
  Systems vary when a person moves from psychological treatment services to employment provisions related to that psychological treatment. In terms of insurance, a medicated condition is often found as disabling and a non-medicated condition often not considered disabling. Therefore, what may be considered a long-term disability meriting psychotropic medication, may only qualify someone for basic counseling sessions with a psychologist.

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