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In 1999 the DDL Task Force published the criteria for the
current DDL Verification Form. At the time, only DDL Specialists
and DSPS Coordinators were permitted to sign the form in order to
verify a student as qualifying for LD. However, there are no
current pathways to becoming certified as a DDL Specialist, nor
have there been for the past eight years or so. As a result, very
few colleges have DDL Specialists on staff, and many DSPS
Coordinators have appointed Learning Disability (LD) specialists to
complete the form and then pass it along to DSPS Coordinators for
their signature of approval.
LD Specialists are trained in cognitive assessment and
interpretation and are usually the ones conducting cognitive
testing on campuses. In the process of this assessment they may
determine that a student does not qualify for DSPS services under
the category of LD, but does qualify under DDL. The LD Field
Advisory group reasoned it would be more efficient if the LD
Specialists could officially determine that DDL criteria are met at
that time and be permitted to sign the verification form.
This proposal was then vetted by the LD specialists in their
regional meetings and before the DSPS Regional Coordinators
Advisory Group, which also approved the change. At the October 15,
2011 LD Field Advisory meeting the group recommended the change to
the Chancellor's Office, which approved it and modified the DDL
Verification Form to note the addition of LD Specialists to the
approved signers list.
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