Undergraduate students at William and Mary are required to complete the College foreign language requirement. Accommodations may be needed for students with disabilities and are considered on a case-by-case basis by the Assistant Dean of Students for Disability Services. While the majority of students with disabilities are able to fulfill the foreign language requirement with little or no accommodation, students with disabilities severe enough to interfere with their ability to complete the basic expectations may be eligible for substitution of the requirement. Waivers are never granted.

The following diagnoses may lend themselves to substitution of the College foreign language requirement under certain circumstances with appropriate documentation:

• Specific Learning Disabilities that affect language development and acquisition
• Hearing Impairment/Deafness
• Speech Impairment (primary or secondary to other medical conditions)

The following diagnoses are examples of disabilities which generally do not lend themselves to substitution of the College foreign language requirement:

• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Vision Impairment

When possible, a student with a disability will be expected to make a good faith effort in a language course with accommodation before substitution will be considered. If accommodation and a good faith effort prove unworkable, the student may petition the Committee on Degrees for authorization to substitute select courses for foreign language courses. Students should petition as soon as possible, but no later than the pre-registration period of the first semester of their senior year. Substitute courses are approved by the Dean of Undergraduate Studies in consultation with the Chair of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department or his/her designee. All students seeking modification of this degree requirement must successfully complete a pre-authorized substitute course for every semester of required foreign language not taken.

Documentation Requirements
Specific documentation criteria apply whether the student is seeking accommodation for or substitution of the foreign language requirement. Decisions regarding foreign language requirement substitution are made by the Committee on Degrees in consultation with the Assistant Dean of Students for Disability Services and, when applicable, previous foreign language instructors.

A comprehensive psycho-educational or neuropsychological assessment that explicitly demonstrates impact of disability upon academics is expected. Assessment must comply with the following guidelines:

Evaluation must be conducted by a qualified diagnostician
The diagnostician must have comprehensive training and direct experience in working with adult populations. Diagnosticians should describe the academic credentials and qualifications that allow them to diagnose the disability and recommend accommodations. Documentation from professionals who are blood relatives of the student cannot be accepted.

Accommodation Recommendations are based upon assessment of the current impact of disability
Documentation verifying specific learning disabilities and physical or medical disorders that could be compensated for over time should not be older than three years from date of submission.

Evaluation must be comprehensive and include the following:
1. Diagnostic Interview: Objective evidence of a substantial limitation in cognition/learning must be provided. Minimally, the written summary must include a description of presenting problem, developmental history, academic history, family history (including primary language of the home and current fluency of English if relevant), psychosocial history, medical history (including the absence of a medical basis for the present symptoms), discussion of dual diagnosis, alternative or coexisting mood/ behavioral/neurological/personality disorders, along with a history of relevant medication and current use that may have an impact upon learning.

2. Neuropsychological or Psycho-educational Evaluation: Neuropsychological or psycho-educational evaluation for the diagnosis of a cognitive disability should be presented on the letterhead of a qualified professional and should provide clear and specific evidence that a cognitive disability does exist. It is not acceptable to diagnose on the basis of a single test, a clinical interview, or response to medication alone. Domains to be addressed include the following: Aptitude/Cognitive Ability, Academic Achievement, and Information Processing.

Test scores must be provided
Standard scores must be provided for all normed measures. There must be evidence of intra-individual differences in cognitive/achievement and in information processing that demonstrates a substantial limitation for which an accommodation is recommended. The particular profile of the individual’s strengths and weaknesses must be shown to relate to functional limitations that necessitate the recommended accommodations. All tests used in assessment must be reliable, valid, and standardized for use with an adult population. Test findings must document both the nature and severity of the disability. Informal inventories, surveys, and direct observation may be used in tandem with formal tests to further develop a diagnosis and support accommodation requests.

Report of assessment must include a specific diagnosis
"Learning styles", "learning differences", and "academic problems" are not cognitive disabilities for which accommodations will be granted. An explicit diagnosis must be supported by test data, academic history, anecdotal and clinical observations which may include comments about the student’s level of motivation, study skills, and other non-cognitive factors. Findings must demonstrate that the functional limitations are due to the diagnosed disability. The diagnostician will also be expected to rule out alternative explanations for problems in learning such as emotional or attentional problems that may interfere with learning, but do not, in and of themselves, constitute a disability in learning.

Report of assessment must recommend specific accommodation(s)
The diagnostician must include a detailed explanation as to why each recommended accommodation is necessary. Such requests must reference test results or clinical observations that support the need for accommodation.

The College reserves the right to make final decisions regarding whether to substitute for accommodation purposes and to make the final judgment as to the sufficiency of any and all documentation.