Texas Board of Law Examiners

Appendix C
Instructions for Completing Application for
Testing Accommodations

Please read Rule XII of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas and these instructions carefully. They provide details about steps that must be followed for the Board to consider your request for testing accommodations. A testing accommodation application form may be downloaded from the Board’s website at www.ble.state.tx.us or obtained by contacting the Board’s office. To meet the filing deadlines specified in Rules IX(a) and XII(b), it is best to begin preparing your application forms well in advance of the timely filing deadline. Your properly completed testing accommodation application forms must be filed at the same time as your application or re-application for the Texas Bar Examination for which you are requesting accommodations.

As an applicant claiming a disability that requires testing accommodations, you must properly complete and submit the forms applicable to your disability. The burden of proof is on you to establish the existence of a disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (the ADAAA), as well as to establish the need for testing accommodations and the reasonableness of the accommodations requested. Each application for testing accommodations is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The Board’s objective is to provide effective and necessary accommodations to qualified applicants as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended in 2009 by the ADAAA, without substantially altering the nature of the examination.

The ADAAA requires the Board to provide testing accommodations to those individuals who have a permanent disability that substantially limits a major life activity. Although you may provide the required documentation establishing that you have been diagnosed with a disability, that does not automatically entitle you to testing accommodations on the Texas Bar Examination. Unless you establish that your disability has substantially impaired a major life activity, you will not be entitled to testing accommodations on the exam.

“Testing Accommodation” means an adjustment or modification of the standard testing conditions that ameliorates the impact of the applicant’s disability on the examination process without fundamentally altering the nature of the exam, imposing an undue administrative or financial burden on the Board, compromising the security, validity or reliability of the exam, or providing an unfair advantage to the applicant with the disability.
The ADAAA authorizes the Board to require specific documentation and to establish procedures to evaluate that documentation in order to ensure that the applicant is an individual for whom accommodations are required under the ADAAA.

Detailed documentation is required to establish the existence of a disability protected by the ADAAA and to provide the Board with all necessary information for determining the specific accommodations, if any, which are merited. The pertinent disability verification forms described below must be completed and signed by a professional who is familiar with your disability. The health care provider or other qualified professional must identify your disability, substantiate the diagnosis, describe the functional limitations it imposes on you, and detail the manner in which it limits an identified major life activity. He or she must also make recommendations about the specific accommodations you need on each segment of the examination and provide an explicit rationale for these recommendations. The Application for Testing Accommodations consists of Forms A - F, which are described as follows:

Form A -- Applicant Information Form: Every applicant for testing accommodations must complete and file this form, simultaneous with the filing of the application or re-application for the specific exam being taken. Answer the questions in the spaces provided. DO NOT refer to an attachment as a substitute for answering a question in the space provided.

Form B -- Physical or Psychological Disability Verification Form: This form must be filed, simultaneous with the filing of the application or re-application for the specific exam being taken, only if the claimed disability is based on a physical disability or psychological disability (other than Learning Disability or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

1. Complete the first block of information before submitting the form to your licensed health care provider.
2. This form must be completed by a health care provider with sufficient expertise and credentials in the area of disability you are claiming. Make sure your health care provider understands that (s)he must answer each question in the space provided. References to an attached document WILL NOT SUFFICE as a substitute for an answer. However, additional pages may be attached to further explain the answer given in the space provided.
3. This form must document your disability at the current time.
4. The testing and assessment establishing your disability must be conducted by a qualified diagnostician/health care provider and must have been conducted within three (3) years of the filing of the application for testing accommodations for the specific bar examination for which you are applying.
5. Note: you or your physician must submit copies of the actual medical records upon which your physician has relied in responding to Form B.
   
   

Form C -- Learning Disorder Verification Form: This form must be filed, simultaneous with the filing of the application or re-application for the specific exam being taken, only if the claimed disability is based on a learning disorder.

1. Complete the first block of information before submitting it to your licensed health care provider or other qualified professional, who must have comprehensive training and direct experience in working with the adult population.
2. This form must be completed by a health care provider with sufficient expertise and credentials in the area of disability you are claiming. Make sure your health care provider reviews and initials the checklist included at the beginning of the form and understands that in completing the form (s)he must answer each question in the space provided. References to an attached document WILL NOT SUFFICE as a substitute for an answer. However, additional pages may be attached to further explain the answer given in the space provided.
3. Please note that you must submit, in addition to the information requested on Form C, a comprehensive psychoeducational or neuropsychological assessment, which demonstrates the impact of your impairment on your ability to perform on each testing component of the Texas Bar Examination under standard time conditions.
4. Your testing and assessment must be conducted by a qualified diagnostician and must have been conducted within five (5) years of the filing of the application for testing accommodations for the specific Texas Bar Examination for which you are applying.
5. The documentation must include both diagnostic information and an explanation of the current manifestations or functional limitations of the condition. It should be thorough enough to demonstrate whether or not a major life activity is substantially limited, i.e., the extent, duration, and impact of the condition.
6. If you have been retested, you must submit not only the evaluation and sub-tests from the retesting, but also copies of any previous evaluations and the accompanying sub-tests.

Form D -- ADD/ADHD Verification Form: This form must be filed, simultaneous with the filing of the application or re-application for the specific exam being taken, only if your disability is ADD/ADHD.

1. Complete the first block of information before submitting this form to your licensed health care provider or other qualified professional, who must have comprehensive training and direct experience in working with the adult population.
2. This form must be completed by a health care provider with sufficient expertise and credentials in the area of disability you are claiming. Make sure your health care provider reviews and initials the checklist included at the beginning of the form and understands that in completing the form (s)he must answer each question in the space provided. References to an attached document WILL NOT SUFFICE as a substitute for an answer. However, additional pages may be attached to further explain the answer given in the space provided.
3. Please note that you must submit, in addition to the information requested on Form D, a comprehensive psychoeducational or neuropsychological assessment. This assessment must demonstrate the impact of your impairment on your ability to perform on each testing component of the Texas exam under standard time conditions.
4. Your testing and assessment must be conducted by a qualified diagnostician and must have been conducted within three (3) years of the filing of the application for testing accommodations for the specific Texas Bar Examination for which you are applying.
5. The documentation must include both diagnostic information and an explanation of the current manifestations or functional limitations of the condition. It should be thorough enough to demonstrate whether or not a major life activity is substantially limited, i.e., the extent, duration, and impact of the condition.
6. If you have been retested, you must submit not only the evaluation and sub-tests from the retesting, but also copies of any previous evaluations and the accompanying sub-tests.

Form E -- Statement of Law School Official: This form must be filed, simultaneous with the filing of the application or re-application for the specific exam being taken, regardless of whether you received accommodations in law school or not.

1. Complete the first block of information before submitting the form to be completed by the appropriate official at your law school.
2. If you attended more than one law school, you must submit a Form E from each law school attended. Make additional copies of the form if needed.

Form F -- Statement of Another Bar Jurisdiction: This form must be filed, simultaneous with the filing of the application or re-application for the specific exam being taken, only if you have applied to take the bar examination in another jurisdiction.

1. Complete the first block of information before you submit the form to be completed by the appropriate bar admission official in the other jurisdiction.
2. If you applied in more than one other jurisdiction, you must submit a Form F from each jurisdiction in which you applied to take the bar exam regardless of whether you received accommodations on the exam or not. Make additional copies of the form if needed.

Your application for testing accommodations and accompanying documentation will be reviewed for completeness shortly after it is filed. Before making a decision regarding your accommodations, the Board’s staff may submit your application for testing accommodations and the accompanying documentation to an expert of the Board’s choice for evaluation and recommendations. After all of your testing accommodations application materials have been appropriately evaluated, you will receive a letter from the Board telling you whether you have been granted testing accommodations. Testing accommodations applications are processed in the order received. Therefore, the earlier you file your application for testing accommodations, the earlier you will receive notification of whether your application has been granted or not. If your application for accommodations is granted, you will receive a letter from the Board detailing the accommodations granted and including a written agreement for you to sign and return if you accept the terms of the testing accommodations.

If your application for testing accommodations is denied in whole or in part, you may appeal the decision of the staff to the Accommodations Review Committee (ARC) of the Board. In order to appeal, you must send a letter addressed to the Executive Director of the Board, stating the specific basis of your appeal. Your appeal letter must reach the Board’s office no later than the date specified in the partial grant or denial letter. The appeal will be considered by the ARC of the Board of Law Examiners in a meeting held in compliance with applicable state law. An appeal of testing accommodations is not a hearing at which new evidence is produced or oral arguments made. It is a review, by the members of the ARC, of the record in the Board’s file relating to your application for testing accommodations, including your application and other materials required to be provided with your application, the medical and other records submitted in support of the application, and the follow-up information generated as a result of your application for testing accommodations.

Any questions about the testing accommodations application process should be directed to: Josh Henslee, Director of Eligibility & Examination, Board of Law Examiners, P.O. Box 13486, Austin, Texas 78711-3486.

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