Administrators and Teachers

The Referral to ARS Form

With the form, include any completed screening information that indicates the possibility of a learning disability; e.g., TABE or GED Ready® scores, both with and without accommodations applied.

If the student DOES HAVE a job, and DOES HAVE financial resources to pay for diagnosis, then the program may assist the student in choosing a clinic or private psychologist to conduct the LD evaluation. The average cost of an LD diagnosis is $800-$2000. Many students who are employed will have insurance that covers all or most of this cost, but they may not be aware of that coverage prior to investigation. Local mental health councils will conduct LD diagnosis on a sliding scale, which may make it affordable for many students with limited financial resources.  Universities with graduate programs in clinical psychology may also provide LD diagnosis on a sliding scale. 
If the student DOES HAVE a job, but HAS NO financial resources to pay for diagnosis, the Arkansas Department of Career Education, Adult Education Division, has authorized a limited amount of funding for the AALRC to pay contracted clinics and psychologists to conduct the LD evaluations.  The AALRC has contracted with a number of psychological testing centers to provide LD evaluations for adult education and literacy students who are working towards a GED® and need to request accommodations on the GED® test for a specific learning disability. These contracts are only for students who have no existing, current diagnosis; no existing resources to pay for diagnosis; and whose goal is to get their GED® diploma.
The contracts are designed to facilitate the process of learning disabilities diagnosis for students who are undiagnosed, but at some point in the screening process, demonstrate a high probability of the existence of a learning disability. The contracts also allow students to obtain updated documentation of an out-of-date, previously diagnosed learning disability. Payment will be made by the Arkansas Adult Learning Resource Center (AALRC) directly to the diagnostician.
If the student has insurance or any other resources that would pay for the testing, that student is not eligible for testing under this contractual arrangement. Only students who are NOT eligible for a referral to ARS and/or have no available resources will be eligible to have their testing paid by the AALRC. This agreement applies only to those students whose goal is to get a GED® diploma.  The Request for AALRC Funding form must be accompanied by a copy of page 1 of the ARS Referral form, which must state the reason the student is not eligible for ARS services.  That form must be signed/dated by someone at ARS.
 

To re-cap, if you have a student who may have a learning disability and needs to be referred for diagnosis, or if the student was previously diagnosed with a learning disability but their documentation is older than five years, and if that student’s goal is to get a GED® and has no existing resources to pay for a learning disabilities evaluation and is not eligible for an ARS referral, please complete the following steps: