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Definitions and Eligibility Criteria AUTISM (AU)
Definition Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three (3), that adversely affects a child's educational performance. A child who manifests the characteristics of Autism after age three (3) could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria are satisfied. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disability. DEAF-BLIND (DB)
Definition The child who is deaf-blind is one who has a combination of auditory and visual disabilities that adversely affects a child's educational performance. These disabilities must also cause such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that the child cannot be accommodated in special education programs designed solely for children with hearing impairment or with visually impaired disabilities. DEVELOPMENTALLY DELAYED (DD)
Definition Developmentally Delayed is a non-categorical disability for children ages birth through five (5). Such a disability is described according to functional and/or developmental levels. Children included in this population either have A. Established delays in two (2) or more of the following areas:
1. Cognitive - the ability to think, which includes processes such as reasoning, problem solving, inferring, concept- ualizing , classifying, symbolizing, imagery, and memory;
2. Fine and/or gross motor - motor skills requiring the control of small, coordinated movements or motor skills used for body control such as standing, walking, and climbing;
3. Language - the ability to acquire, use and comprehend symbols utilized in communication;
4. Social - the ability to build or maintain age-appropriate interpersonal relationships and/or adaptive behavior which is the effectiveness with which the individual meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of his age; or
B. A diagnosed disorder of known etiology which will affect development in a negative fashion and has a high prob- ability of resulting in a developmental delay. EMOTIONAL DISABILITY (EmD)
Definition A child who has an emotional disability exhibits one or more of the following characteristics that adversely affects educational performance over a long period of time and to a marked degree, including:
The term includes children who are schizophrenic. The term does not include children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance. HEARING IMPAIRED (HI) Definition Children with a hearing impairment are those who are deaf or who are hard of hearing. Deaf means a hearing impairment which is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, which adversely affects educational performance. Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, which adversely affects the child's educational performance. Children with hearing impairments have sufficient hearing to allow them to process information through the auditory channel with or without amplification. LANGUAGE/SPEECH (L/S) Definition Language/Speech Impaired means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language problem or a voice impairment, which adversely affects a child's educational performance. Children with language and/or speech impairments have disorders which interfere with or limit, to varying degrees, the child's ability to receive, interpret, formulate or express oral language. MENTAL RETARDATION (MR) Definition Children who have mental retardation exhibit learning problems which vary in degree of severity, including Educable Mentally Retarded (EMR), Trainable Mentally Retarded (TMR) or Severely/Profoundly Retarded (S/Pr). These children have significantly sub-average intelligence existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and in academic functioning or performance that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Delays in cognitive abilities, adaptive behavior and developmental milestones must have been evidenced during a child's developmental period, and upon entering school, such delays must have adversely affected a child's educational performance. MULTIPLE DISABILITIES (MD) Definition A child with Multiple Disabilities is one who has a combination of disabilities that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The disability must also cause such severe educational needs that the child cannot be accommodated in a special education program designed solely for one of the disabilities. The term does not include a Deaf-Blind disability. ORTHOPEDIC IMPAIRMENT (OI) Definition Orthopedic Impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's education performance. "Orthopedic Impairments" include those caused by a congenital anomaly (i.e., clubfoot or absence of one or more members), impairments caused by disease (i.e., poliomyelitis or bone tuberculosis) and impairments resulting from other causes (i.e., cerebral palsy, amputation and fractures or burns causing contractures). OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRMENT (OHI) Definition Other Health Impairment means having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, adversely affects a child's educational performance. SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY (SLD) Definition A child with a specific learning disability is one who has a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing or motor disability, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance or of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage. TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) Definition Traumatic Brain Injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial function disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more area, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; 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. VISUALLY IMPAIRED (VI) Definition Visually Impaired children are those who have a visual impairment which, even with correction, adversely affects their educational performance and includes:
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