The following guidelines are intended to assist you (and your diagnostician) in completing your request for accommodations on the Nebraska State Bar Examination. If you are seeking additional test time on the Nebraska State Bar Examination because of a cognitive impairment, including, but not limited to, specific learning disabilities, processing deficiencies, and attention deficit disorder, you must submit a comprehensive psychoeducational or neuropsychological assessment. This assessment must comply with the following requirements and demonstrate the impact of your disability on your ability to perform on the Nebraska State Bar Examination under standard time conditions.

1. Your evaluation must be conducted by a qualified diagnostician

Your testing and assessment must be conducted by a qualified diagnostician. The diagnostician must have comprehensive training and direct experience in working with adult populations. Diagnosticians should describe their academic credentials and qualifications that allow them to diagnose your disability and recommend accommodations on the Nebraska State Bar Examination.

2. The testing/assessment must be current

Accommodations will be based upon our assessment of the current nature and impact of your disability. You are, therefore, required to submit a report or documentation of recent testing and a current assessment of the impact of your disability. This means that testing must have been conducted within three years of your request for accommodations on the Nebraska State Bar Examination. If, however, you were tested after the age of 21, testing conducted within the past five years of your request for accommodations on the Nebraska State Bar Examination may be acceptable. If the documentation you submit is insufficient or outdated, you will be required to obtain current testing and assessment in order to pursue your request for accommodations.

3. The testing/assessment must be comprehensive

Objective evidence of a substantial limitation in cognition/learning must be provided. Minimally, the domains to be addressed must include the following:

a. A diagnostic interview

The report of assessment should include a comprehensive diagnostic interview that includes relevant background information to support the diagnosis. In addition to the candidate's self-report, the report of assessment should include:

• a description of the presenting problem(s);
• a developmental history:
• academic history, including results of prior standardized testing, reports of classroom performance and behavior, and notable trends;
• family history, including primary language of the home, and current fluency of English (where relevant);
• psychosocial history;
• medical history, including the absence of a medical basis for the present symptoms;
• history of prior psychotherapy;
• a discussion of dual diagnosis, alternative or coexisting mood, behavioral, neurological and/or personality disorders, along with any history of relevant medication and current use which may impact the individual's learning; and
• exploration of possible alternatives which may mimic a cognitive disability when, in fact, one is not present.

The neuropsychological or psychoeducational evaluation for the diagnosis of a cognitive disability should be submitted on the letterhead of a qualified professional, and it should provide clear and specific evidence that a cognitive disability does or does not exist. It is not acceptable to administer only one test, nor is it acceptable to base a diagnosis on only one of several subtests. Domains to be addressed should include the following:

1) Aptitude

A complete aptitude assessment is required with all subtests and standard scores. The preferred instrument is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Revised (WAIS-R). Other acceptable instruments include, but are not limited to, the Woodcock - Johnson Psychoeducational Battery -Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability; the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition.

2) Achievement

A complete achievement battery, with all subtests and standard scores, should be provided. The battery may include current levels of academic functioning in reading (decoding and comprehension), mathematics, and written language. Acceptable instruments include, but are not limited to, the Skills Woodcock - Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Achievement; the Nelson - Denny Reading Test; Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults Test - 3 (SATA); or Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised. The Wide Range Achievement (WRAT-3) is not a comprehensive measure of achievement and therefore is not acceptable if used as the sole measure of achievement.

3) Information Processing

Specific areas of information processing (e.g., short and long term memory; sequential memory, auditory and visual perception/processing; processing speed; executive functioning; motor ability) must be addressed. Acceptable instruments include, but are not limited to, the Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude - 3 (DTLA-3). Information from subtests on the WAlS-R, or the Woodcock - Johnson Psychoeducational Battery - Revised: Tests of Cognitive Ability as well as other instruments may be used to address these areas.

4) Other Assessment Measures

Other standard and formal assessment measures (e.g., personality or clinical inventories) may be integrated with the above documents to help support a dual diagnosis, or to disentangle the cognitive/learning disability from coexisting mood, behavioral, neurological, and/or personality disorders. In addition to standardized test batteries, it is also very helpful to include informal observations of the student during the test administration. Nonstandard measures and informal assessment procedures may be helpful to determine performance across a variety of domains.

4. Actual test scores must be provided

Standard scores must be provided for all normed measures. Percentiles are also acceptable, but grade equivalents are not acceptable unless standard scores and/or percentiles are also included. The report of assessment must show evidence of intra-individual differences in cognitive/achievement and in information processing that demonstrate 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.

The tests used must be reliable, valid, and standardized for use with an adult population. The test findings must document both the nature and severity of the disability(ies). Informal inventories, surveys, and direct observation by a qualified diagnostician may be used in tandem with formal tests in order to further develop a diagnosis and recommend accommodations.

5. The report of assessment must include a specific diagnosis

The report of assessment must include a specific diagnosis. For example, individual "learning styles," "learning differences," and "academic problems" are not by themselves cognitive disabilities for which accommodations will be granted. The specific diagnosis must be supported by test data, academic history, anecdotal and clinical observations that may include comments about the candidate's level of motivation, study skills, and other noncognitive factors. These findings must demonstrate that the candidate's functional limitations are due to the diagnosed disability(ies). It is important that the diagnostician rule out alternative explanations for problems in learning such as emotional or attentional problems that may interfere with learning, but which do not, in and of themselves, constitute a specific disability in learning.

6. The report of assessment must recommend specific accommodations

The report of assessment must recommend specific accommodations. 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 the accommodation.

Nebraska State Bar Commission reserves the right:

• to make the final judgment as to the sufficiency of any and all documentation
• as to whether a special test accommodation will be granted
• and the type of accommodation permitted