How to register
Learn about how to register with the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities (ACSD), eligibility, required documentation, and information for referring professionals.
Registration with the ACSD is a two-step process:
- Review your eligibility and send the required documentation to acsd.intake@concordia.ca.
- After documentation is reviewed, you will be contacted for an intake appointment with an ACSD Advisor, where you will set up your accommodation plan.
There could be up to a 5-day delay prior to an intake appointment being booked. While we understand that your situation may be time sensitive, your accommodations will only start after your intake appointment.
To access final exam accommodations for the fall 2023 term, you must submit all required documentation to acsd.intake@concordia.ca by October 27, 2023.
All intake appointments will be conducted virtually. Follow-up appointments can be either virtual or in-person, to be discussed and scheduled with your advisor.
Students with a variety of disability conditions can register with us. Some examples are impairments related to hearing, mobility, and vision. Other conditions can include (but are not limited to):
- Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Learning disabilities
- Chronic medical conditions (for example: Crohn's Disease, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, etc.)
- Mental health conditions (for example: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc.)
- Other neurodevelopmental disorders (for example: Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disability, Global Developmental Delay, etc.)
We can also provide services and accommodations to students with temporary disability conditions that are generally the result of illness or injury.
Newly admitted students
Registration is available for newly admitted students. If you have previously received accommodations at your high school, college, CEGEP or university, please email us at acsd.intake@concordia.ca with your full name, Concordia ID and attach required documents as soon as you have accepted your offer of admission.
Current students
Registration is available to all current Concordia students with sufficient documentation. Please email us at acsd.intake@concordia.ca with your full name, Concordia ID and attach required documents.
If you previously registered with the ACSD and are returning to Concordia after some time away, please contact acsdinfo@concordia.ca or your ACSD Advisor with your full name, Concordia ID and required documents to check the status of your registration.
In order to register with us, we need documentation with a clear statement of diagnosis along with the signature and contact information of a medical professional issuing the documentation.
Below are examples of documentation by disability category:
- Learning disability: A psycho-educational assessment or neuropsychological report
- Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder: A psycho-educational assessment or neuropsychological report and/or a medical assessment
- Medical conditions: A medical note or assessment issued within the past year which includes a diagnostic statement and/or a description of the functional limitations
- Mental health conditions: Documentation issued within the past year which includes a diagnostic assessment or impression and a description of the functional limitations
Register with the Access Centre for
Students with Disabilities (ACSD)
Please send us a request by email and attach the required documents.
We will contact you to book an appointment with an advisor.
If you are a professional who is working with or has assessed the student, here are documentation guidelines to support the student’s request for services and academic accommodations.
Documentation provided by referring professionals should:
- Be submitted on letterhead
- Include the practitioner's name, title, phone/fax, mailing, and email addresses and signature
- Indicate the length of time the student has been under the practitioner's care
- Describe the nature of the medical condition/disability, along with a detailed explanation of its functional impact on academic performance, functioning or participation in academic activities
- Provide sufficient detail so that appropriate academic accommodations can be determined
- Include relevant test results
- Identify side effects of medications that may adversely affect academic performance or participation
LD/ADHD Guidelines
Assessment and report guidelines for Learning Disability (LD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- The testing must be performed by a licensed professional with expertise and training in adult LD and ADHD assessment.
- The report must be printed on letterhead that identifies the assessor and includes professional credentials.
- Tests used must be listed, and results from all tests must be reported.
- Actual test and sub-test scores (in the form of percentile ranks and/or scaled scores) should be included, or be made available upon request.
- Assessment should be carried out using adult level tests and therefore should be recent.
- A Learning Disability is established through the administration of a psycho-educational assessment. This is generally carried out by a psychologist with expertise and training in these assessments. This includes the administration of valid standardized tests that confirm the likelihood of the condition.
- Testing should be comprehensive and include both aptitude and achievement testing.
- It is important that all evaluation measures used in the report be reliable, valid and age-appropriate and that the most recent edition of each measure is used. Scores should be reported as standard or scaled scores, as applicable, and/or as percentile ranks.
- While qualitative categorizations such as "average" and "below average" are helpful, actual score data are needed as objective evidence of the functional limitations. These identified limitations should be supported across several tests within the battery of tests used. It is important that the evaluator not base the entire diagnosis of the disability on a single subtest or a single discrepancy measure.
- Achievement testing, should be viewed through the lens of the student’s intellectual and processing abilities, and should demonstrate a substantial limitation to learning, not merely a relative weakness.
- A clinical summary that recaps the most important points of the report and synthesizes the key findings is very helpful. This should reiterate evidence that the requested accommodations are grounded in objective data, in addition to clinical observations and judgment. Evaluators should reach conclusions that are logical and supported by the data, as well as by their clinical judgment.
- Any diagnosis must be justified by the test results.
- Recommendations should be tailored to the individual, and each accommodation recommended by the evaluator should be tied to specific test results and clinical observations.
- The report must include a clinical and educational history, a clinical commentary on test behaviors, test results, conclusions and recommendations for accommodations.
Identification of ADHD is generally a two-fold procedure:
- A behavioral assessment by a medical doctor (MD), who may or may not prescribe medication
- A psycho-educational assessment by a psychologist with expertise in identifying the condition. This includes the administration of standardized tests that confirm the likelihood of the condition (please see details outlined above in the section on LD assessments)
Documenting medical conditions
Below are guidelines for documentation of chronic medical conditions, vision, mobility, hearing, hand or coordination impairments, Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders, as well as any other health-related conditions.
Your documentation should:
- Be written by a physician (M.D.) or other appropriate specialist
- Discuss the impact of the disability on academic performance, functioning or participation in academic activities
- Review medications and their possible effects on academic performance (if applicable)
- Include a rationale for any academic accommodations being recommended
- Detail treatment and plan(s) for follow-up (if applicable)
- The assessment and diagnosis of a mental health condition must be performed by a licensed mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, a medical doctor, or a psychologist.
- The documentation must be on letterhead and include the professional’s credentials and contact information. It should include:
- Relevant medical history
- How the mental health condition might affect academic performance, functioning or participation in academic activities
- Information on current treatment
- Current medication and how that medication might affect academic performance, functioning or participation in academic activities
- The diagnosis must be thorough enough to support the accommodations being considered or requested. The provision of all reasonable accommodations and services is assessed based on the current impact of the disability on academic performance.
- The diagnostic evaluation must have been completed within the last year.
Related links information
- Email us at acsd.intake@concordia.ca if you aren't sure your documentation is sufficient.
- Consult the student accommodations page to for more about services and accommodations.
Related registration and ACSD information
Student accommodations
Learn about academic accommodations and services including individual planning, referral services, drop-in sessions, and more.
Accessibility policies
Find Concordia’s policies relating to accessibility and the rights and responsibilities of the university community.
Contact us
Connect with the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities (ACSD) team — find our contact information here.