Application for Special Accommodations on the Grounds of Learning Disabilities
The Psychometric Test
What is a learning disability, and who is entitled to special accommodations in the test due to it?
Learning disability is a basic difficulty in reading, writing, or arithmetic. The disability begins at a young age, when these skills are first acquired, or shortly afterwards.
Although the test assesses complex skills, including comprehension, problem solving and information processing, success in it depends on basic reading, writing, and calculating skills - skills which are not directly assessed by the test. So someone with a severe primary learning disability in one of these skills is potentially entitled to special accommodations.
Special accommodations are generally granted on the grounds of one or more of the following disabilities:
- Reading disability (dyslexia)
- Writing disability (dysgraphia)
- Arithmetic disability (dyscalculia)
Special accommodations are not granted on the grounds of difficulties with more complex skills, such as slow information processing, difficulties in organizing material or mental difficulties not connected to learning disabilities, since these difficulties are directly connected to the skills that the test is intended to measure.
What is the procedure for receiving special accommodations on the grounds of learning disabilities?
In order for us to understand whether your difficulties are caused by a primary learning disability, and in what way currently influences your studying and performance in tests, you need to send us documentation that shows how the difficulty began and how you functioned in domains of study over the years. The documentation will help us assess whether this is a case of ongoing primary disability, and whether it still causes a significant loss of function that justifies special accommodations in the test..
What documentation should be submitted?
The application should include a current assessment and assessor questionnaire as well as supporting documentation from a young age.
Current assessment: Your application must include the results of a diagnostic learning assessment conducted by a professional licensed to diagnose learning disabilities in adults (e,g. a didactic assessor). The assessment may be didactic or psycho-didactic; either is acceptable as long as they include assessment of learning functions.
The assessment must be current, i.e.
- either an assessment conducted after age 18,
- or an assessment conducted after age 16 and within the past five years.
Assessor Questionnaire: The assessment should include the assessor questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire is to summarize the required data concerning your functional difficulties and their influence on study in a clear and uniform fashion. You should provide the assessor with the questionnaire before the assessment begins, so that he or she can prepare for the assessment and conduct it according to requirements. Click here for more information on the assessor questionnaire.
Please note:
- The assessment must be of functioning in your first language (e.g. Hebrew, Arabic, or English).
- For those who intend to take the test in a language other than their first language, the assessment should include information about their performance in the language of the test.
For those applying on the grounds of dysgraphia only: the application for special accommodations on the grounds of dysgraphia only should include a comprehensive assessment of writing functions conducted after age 12 and within the past five years. If you have an assessment conducted after age 18, no further assessment is required. The assessment may be conducted either by a didactic assessor or by an occupational therapist, and must include quantitative data as detailed in the “assessment of writing in first language” section on page 5 of the assessor questionnaire.
In order to understand the development of your learning functions, it is important to receive information from the elementary school stage. Since this is the stage when most reading, writing and arithmetic skills are acquired, documentation from these years can help to determine whether difficulties already manifested in the early stages of education and to identify their cause.
It is important to submit every document that contains information on your functioning in grades 1-6, including:
- Developmental therapy records (e.g., occupational therapy, speech therapy).
- Results of previous assessments
- Elementary school report cards
- Evaluations or letters from teachers
- Documentation of remedial instruction
- Middle- and high- school report cards
- Evaluations from teachers or professionals (via the teacher questionnaire)
You do not need to submit every document in the list: these are only examples of documentation that can help us understand your functioning at a young age. These documents help to form a complete picture of your difficulties and to distinguish between primary learning disabilities and difficulties that formed later.
What should I do if I do not have documents from a young age? See here.
Frequently Asked Questions
The purpose of the questionnaire is to summarize the data on your functional difficulties and their influence on study in a clear and uniform fashion. The assessor should fill out the questionnaire according to the results of the assessment:
- If all the required data already appear clearly in the report, it is not necessary to fill out the questionnaire.
- If data are missing, please ask the assessor to supply them.
- If you cannot locate the assessor, you may submit the assessment as-is, and the professional team will consider the request on the basis of the existing data. In this case you may be required to supply the missing data.
It is important for us to receive documentation from a young age, since it helps us determine whether your difficulties manifested already in the first years of study. If you do not have documentation from a young age, you can contact your elementary school and request reports or archive documents, or locate teachers who taught you (via the school or via mutual friends or social media) and ask them to complete the teacher questionnaire.
If you do not submit documentation, we may be unable to determine eligibility for special accommodations. In exceptional cases, you may include a personal letter describing the difficulties you experienced at a young age and the special circumstances due to which you have no supporting documentation.
A learning disability is a basic difficulty in reading, writing, or arithmetic that began at a young age. ADHD is a neurological disorder that affects attention, perseverance, and regulation. They are two separate types of disability.
Yes. These two phenomena can manifest together. Learning disability is connected to reading, writing or arithmetic, while ADHD affects attention, perseverance and organization. Each domain is assessed according to its own documentation and criteria, so a request for special accommodations should include documents relating to each of the relevant domains.
Yes. As long as the assessment is conducted by a qualified professional licensed to assess learning disabilities in adults (e.g. a didactic assessor), it is acceptable.
No. Any assessment of learning function that fits the instructions may be conducted, even if it is not via MATAL.
A current assessment via MATAL is considered a complete assessment in the domain of learning disabilities, and there is no need to include the Assessor’s Questionnaire. However, as in every application, it is still necessary to include documentation from an early age.
A recommendation by the assessor does not guarantee that you will be granted extra time. Each test has its own objectives and characteristics, and therefore special accommodations are granted per test on an individual basis. We take the recommendations seriously, but determine special accommodations according to the characteristics of the test you are registered for and the data in the documentation.
The special accommodations you were granted in high school do not affect your entitlement to special accommodations in NITE’s tests, so there is no need to send them.
Special accommodations may also be requested for the following
| Mental Health Difficulties | Physical Restrictions | Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) | Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) |