Medical Statements and Guidelines

When requesting reasonable accommodations for a disability, medical documentation is required unless the relevant disability/impairment is obvious or visible. This is to help the university understand the condition, capacities or limitations in conjunction with the request. 

Questions? Contact access@uark.edu to find out if a medical statement form is required for your request.

Submit the appropriate medical statement form to the provider:

Providers can send the completed medical statement form back to the employee, or they can send it directly:

  • Email: access@uark.edu
  • Fax: 479-575-7637
  • Mail or drop-off at:
    c/o Director of Accommodation and Accessibility Services/ADA Coordinator
    122 Administration Building
    Fayetteville, AR 72701

Employees have the option to attach the completed form to the online accommodation request. 

Medical Documentation Guidelines

Individuals who wish to be considered for reasonable accommodations must submit current (within a year) documentation (i.e., medical/educational/diagnostic reports) from licensed physicians, psychologists, or other qualified professionals, as well as supporting historical records and materials. School plans such as IEPs or 504 Plans are helpful but may not substitute for complete and current documentation.

Medical Provider Requirements

The professional providing documentation must be qualified to conduct the evaluation and make the diagnosis. Documentation must include a recommendation for appropriate accommodations related to the employee’s current position and job responsibilities.

All reports should be in English, typed or printed on professional letterhead, dated, signed, and otherwise legible. The Office of Accommodation and Accessibility Services reserve the right to receive the documentation directly from the evaluator and/or request additional information.

Evaluation and Diagnostic Documentation

The medical evaluation and documentation must assess the impact of any condition related to current job duties. Evaluations that also have differing standards for child versus adults, but also be done on adult scales, as appropriate. Additionally: 

  • There must be evidence that establishes a clear link between the functional limitations and the specific deficit areas, along with a justification for the need of the recommended accommodations.
  • The evaluation should demonstrate that a major life activity is substantially limited by providing evidence of the frequency and severity of the condition.
  • The evaluator must clearly state the specific diagnosis along with the appropriate diagnostic code. Indirect language in the wording of the diagnosis such as “weakness,” “suggests,” “seems to indicate,” “appears,” “is indicative of,” “learning difficulty or difference,” “presence of” does not support a conclusive or specific diagnosis.

If the documentation does not sufficiently address the employee’s current functional limitations and need for accommodations, the Office of Accommodation and Accessibility Services may require additional information to be submitted. School plans such as Individual Educational Plans (IEP) or 504 Accommodation Plans are helpful in providing historical data but may not be substituted in lieu of the above requested documentation.

Rationale and Justification

A diagnosis alone does not necessarily warrant an accommodation under the ADA. Approved accommodations must be related to the job duties of the individual, be appropriate, and be reasonable. The university’s obligation under the ADA is to provide a reasonable accommodation for a disability, not necessarily the individual’s preferred accommodation.

Recommended accommodations from a medical professional should establish a clear link between the request, functional limitations, and how the accommodation will mitigate the limitations. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to:

  • Making existing facilities readily accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities
  • Job restructuring
  • Part-time or modified work schedules
  • Acquisition or modification of equipment or devices
  • Adjustments or modifications to examinations, training materials or policies
  • Auxiliary aids and services such as qualified readers or interpreters
  • Assisting a current employee to seek a vacant position for which the individual is qualified

Please note that the provision of a past accommodation in another setting will be considered, but does not necessarily guarantee or assure the requested accommodation will be implemented.

The Office of Accommodation and Accessibility Services reserves the right to seek additional clinical information pertaining to the determination of eligibility. It is the employee’s responsibility to obtain the requested additional information when the request is made.

Confidentiality

  • Medical information obtained in connection with a request for reasonable accommodation are maintained by the ADA Coordinator separately from the individual’s personnel file. Such information should be restricted to a need-to-know basis.
  • The Office of Accommodation and Accessibility Services may share certain information with an employee’s supervisor or other university official(s) as necessary to make appropriate determinations.
  • Employees receiving information in connection with the reasonable accommodation process must keep the information confidential.
  • The fact that a reasonable accommodation has been requested or approved and information about functional limitation is also confidential.
  • Employees are not required nor encouraged to disclose medical information or information about an impairment(s) to their supervisors.