If you do not remember your advisor’s name, please contact us at acsdinfo@concordia.ca. Please allow us up to 48 hours to respond.

No. Exams will not be physically invigilated at the ACSD during the Fall 2020 semester.

No. As the university has moved to digital teaching and learning, ACSD students do not need to book any exams (online or take-home) with us to receive their extended time accommodations.

Since we will not be invigilating any exams in the Fall 2020 semester, we encourage you to email the Exams Office at examsoffice@concordia.ca with your questions.

Your professors will adjust the time for your online exams. The ACSD will send a letter of accommodations to your professors by email on the second Monday after the start of of classes.

Please follow-up with each of your professors directly to ensure that they have received the letter and have updated your test times.

If the take-home exceeds the expected completion time by 100% then additional time will not be applied. Please communicate with your professor if you have any additional questions about this.

For example, if your professor assigns a take-home exam that is designed to be completed in 3 hours, and the entire class is given 24 hours to complete it, additional time would not necessarily be provided. The 24-hour window already encompasses the extra time.

The ACSD is currently looking into this. More information to come.

According to Concordia University’s exam guidelines, earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones that are not connected to a device are permitted in exams.

Reach out to your professor to discuss your options.

For Fall 2020, we will be holding virtual drop-in sessions via Zoom on Thursday mornings. The drop-in sessions have been designed as an open-group discussion forum, either focusing on a specific theme, or as open discussions with Q&A format. Drop-ins are only open to registered ACSD students. Look out for our email invites with the Zoom meeting information!

• 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)

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.