Categories of Eligibility
Disabilities are classified into five categories:
Category A --
Physical Impairments;
Category B --
Emotional Impairments;
Category C --
Communication Impairments;
Category D --
Learning Impairments;
Category E -- Developmental Delay.
The term "educational performance" is used in all of the definitions for eligibility. As used in this guide, "educational performance" is a term referring to how a student functions in the educational setting. It may or may not require academic achievement testing as noted within each category. Multi - disciplinary assessment should be collected to substantiate an adverse impact on educational performance.
NOTE: When using Categories A thru D, for a preschool child, the IEP Team must address questions regarding "educational performance". To assist with that discussion, it is recommended that the IEP Team equate the term "educational performance" with "developmental progress" since in most cases there was no formal education provided.
Definitions
"Students whose educational performance is adversely affected by a physical impairment that requires environmental and / or academic modifications including, but not limited to, the following: visually impaired, hearing impaired, orthopedically impaired, other health impaired."
Autism A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non - verbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, that adversely affects educational performance. The term does not include students with characteristics of the disability serious emotional disturbance.
Deaf A hearing loss or deficit so severe that the student is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, to the extent that his / her educational performance is adversely affected.
Deaf - Blindness Concomitant hearing and visual impairments. This disability causes such severe communication, developmental, and educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for students with deafness or students with blindness.
Hearing Impairment An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating that adversely affects a student's educational performance.
Other Health Impairment Limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems that adversely affect a student's educational performance, including heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia or diabetes.
Orthopedic Impairment A severe physical impairment that adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term includes congenital impairments, impairments caused by disease (i.e., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes such as cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns causing contractures.
Traumatic Brain Injury An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as: cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgement, or problem - solving; sensory, perceptual and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Visual Impairment, including Blindness An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
When interference with learning is related to sensory, physical, or health issues, a medical screening is to be included as a prereferral activity or current information is to be retrieved from the health records. The nature and severity of the medical condition coupled wit the success of medical, educational, and parental interventions will have a bearing on the prereferral timeframe.
Interventions for students diagnosed as having chronic health conditions (such as allergies, asthma, attention deficit disorders, etc.) may require 1 - 2 months of collaborative efforts form clinic, school, and parents to judge the therapeutic effectiveness of the intervention.
Definitions
An emotional condition that has been confirmed by clinical evaluation and diagnosis and that, over a long period of time and to a marked degree, adversely affects educational performance and that exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:
1. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
3. Inappropriate types of behavior under normal circumstances.
4. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or School problems.
5. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
This includes students who are schizophrenic, but does not include students who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are seriously emotionally disturbed.
The term does not usually include:
a. intellectual deficit;
b. sensory or physical impairments;
c. attention deficit disorder;
d. anti - social behavior;
e. parent - child problems;
f. conduct disorders;
g. interpersonal problems;
h. other problems which are not the result of a severe mental disorder.
Category C - Communication Impairment includes two disabilities: Speech disorders and Language disorders.
Definition
Students whose educational performance is adversely affected by a developmental or acquired communication disorder to include voice, fluency, articulation, receptive and / or expressive language.
Language disorders are characterized by an impairment/delay in receptive and/or expressive language including semantics, morphology/syntax, phonology and/or pragmatics. This impairment does not include students whose language problems are due to English as a second language or dialect difference.
Articulation disorder is characterized by substitutions, distortions, and/or omissions of phonemes which are not commensurate with expected developmental age norms, which may cause unintelligible conversational speech and are not the result of limited English proficiency or dialect.
Fluency disorder is characterized by atypical rate, rhythm, repetitions, and/or secondary behavior(s) which interferes with communication or is inconsistent with age/development.
Voice disorder is characterized by abnormal pitch, intensity, resonance, duration, and/or quality which is inappropriate for chronological age or gender.
Category D - Learning Impairment includes two disabilities: information processing and intellectual deficit.
Definitions
Information Processing Deficit
Information processing deficit is a disorder in a student's ability to effectively use one or more of the cognitive processes (i.e., discrimination, association, retention, reasoning) in the educational environment. The term does not apply to student's who have learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of mental retardation or emotional disturbance or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
NOTE: Students who function within the "slow learner" range do NOT meet the criteria for an information processing deficit. These are students whose measured intelligence is within normal intelligence limits, although at the low end (e.g. 70-90-IQ). These students generally demonstrate a "flat profile on individual measures of intelligence and academic achievement.
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Intellectual deficit is significantly sub-average intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a student's educational performance.
Definitions
Category E - Developmental Delay is a category specific to children ages birth through 5 only. The term developmental delay refers to a condition which represents a significant delay in the process of development. It does not refer to a condition in which a child is slightly or momentarily lagging in development. The presence of a developmental delay is an indication that the developmental processes are significantly impacted and that, without special intervention, it is likely that the educational performance will be affected when the child reaches school age.
There are five developmental areas of concern in the definition of developmental delay. They are:
1. Physical Development - fine / gross motor skills used for coordinated use of muscles and body control in actions such as balance, standing, walking, climbing, object manipulation, cutting, and pre - writing activities;
2. Communication Development - ability to understand and use language and the phonological processes;
3. Cognitive Development - ability to receive information, process relationships, and apply knowledge;
4. Social / Emotional Development - ability to develop and maintain functional interpersonal relationships and to exhibit social and emotional behaviors appropriate to the setting; and
5. Adaptive / Self - Help Development - ability to deal with environmental expectations and use functional daily living skills.