CDS Study Guide 2026

Everything you need to pass the CDS exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.

📚 CDS Topics to Study (69)

✍️ Sample CDS Questions & Answers

1. Under the ADA Title II, public entities are required to make their programs accessible through which concept?
Program accessibility

ADA Title II requires that public entities make their programs, services, and activities accessible through program accessibility — meaning the overall program must be accessible, not necessarily every facility.

2. Which of the following best describes the role of peer support specialists in psychosocial rehabilitation?
Individuals with lived experience of mental illness who offer hope, guidance, and support based on their own recovery journey

Peer support specialists use their own recovery experience to provide mentoring, advocacy, and emotional support, demonstrating that recovery is possible and reducing stigma.

3. A CDS client with a mental health disability reveals they are considering harming themselves. The specialist's ethical and legal duty includes:
Taking steps to ensure safety, which may include breaking confidentiality

When there is imminent risk of self-harm, the duty to protect safety overrides standard confidentiality obligations, both ethically and legally.

4. In a disability evaluation, the term 'whole person impairment' (WPI) refers to:
The total percentage of body function lost due to the disabling condition

WPI expresses the degree of permanent impairment as a percentage of total body function, as defined by AMA Guides, integrating regional impairment ratings into a single overall value.

5. The AT Continuum ranges from no-tech to high-tech solutions. Which example correctly represents a mid-tech solution?
A single-message voice output device (e.g., BIGmack)

A single-message voice output device like the BIGmack is considered mid-tech because it involves simple electronics without complex programming.

6. Which action constitutes 'record tampering' in a disability case file?
Backdating a progress note to appear as though it was written on an earlier date

Backdating records to misrepresent when an entry was made constitutes fraud and record tampering, which can result in professional sanctions and criminal liability.

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CDS Study Guide 2026 — Exam Format, Topics & Practice Questions