Exceptionalities
Autism
A developmental disability characterized by qualitative distortions in the development of cognitive, language, social or motor skills. Determination of autism/pervasive developmental disorder shall include a full assessment and comprehensive report of diagnosis by a physician qualified to render a diagnosis and by a public school psychologist specifying the nature and degree of the disorder. Eligibility for special education services and programs for a student may not be limited solely because of the failure of a neurological examination by a physician to identify the child as having autism. Symptoms are typically manifested before 3 years of age, are not usual for any stage of child development and shall include two or more of the following:
Impairment in reciprocal social interaction.
Impairment in communication and imaginative activity including verbal and nonverbal skills.
Markedly restricted repertoire of activities and interests, often involving resistance to change and motor or verbal stereotypes.
Abnormal or inconsistent responses to sensory stimuli in one or more of the following areas: sight, hearing, touch, pain, balance, smell, taste, posture and motor behavior.
Deaf-Blindness
Concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
Deafness & Hearing Impaired
A hearing loss which interferes with the development of the communication process and results in failure to achieve educational potential. Determination of the hearing impairment shall include a report by an audiologist or otologist, or both, specifying the nature and degree of the impairment.
Developmental Delay
A child who is less than the age of beginners and at least 3 years of age is considered to have a developmental delay when one of the following exists:
The child's score, on a developmental assessment device, on an assessment instrument which yields a score in months, indicates that the child is delayed by 25% of the child's chronological age in one or more developmental areas.
The child is delayed in one or more of the developmental areas, as documented by test performance of 1.5 standard deviations below the mean on standardized tests.
Mentally Gifted
Outstanding intellectual and creative ability the development of which requires special services and programs not ordinarily provided in the regular education program. This term includes a person who has an IQ of 130 or higher and when multiple criteria as set forth in Department Guidelines indicate gifted ability.
- Determination of gifted ability will not be based on IQ score alone.
- A person with an IQ score lower than 130 may be admitted to gifted programs when other educational criteria in the profile of the person strongly indicate gifted ability.
- Determination of mentally gifted shall include a full assessment and comprehensive report by a public school psychologist specifying the nature and degree of the ability.
Mental Retardation
Impaired mental development which adversely affects the educational performance of a person. The term includes a person who exhibits significantly impaired intellectual functioning. The term does not include persons with IQ scores of 80 or higher. Determination of mental retardation shall include a full assessment and comprehensive report by a public school psychologist certified by the Department specifying the nature of the impairment and the level of functioning.
Multiple Disabilities
Concomitant impairments, such as mental retardation and a physical disability, the combination of which results in needs which require extraordinary service delivery. The term does not include students who are "deaf-blind."
Orthopedic Impairment
A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
Other Health Impairment
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 asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, and sickle cell anemia; and adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Learning Disability
A chronic condition of presumed neurological origin which selectively interferes with the development, integration or demonstration of language, spoken or written, or of nonverbal abilities. The condition manifests itself, when the child is provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child's age and ability level, as a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the following areas: Oral expression, Listening comprehension, Written expression, Reading Comprehension, Basic reading skills, Mathematics reasoning, and Mathematics calculation. The term is not synonymous with underachievement. The term includes specific deficits in receptive and expressive language and deficiencies in initiating or sustaining nonverbal reasoning, integrating problems, motor coordination and social perception. Examples of the condition include minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia, if the evaluation clearly indicates that the person can demonstrate normal or above normal intellectual functioning on an appropriate measure of intelligence. The term does not include learning conditions which are primarily the result of sensory impairment, physical disability, mental retardation, emotional factors or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage. Determination of the learning disability shall include a full assessment and comprehensive report by a certified public school psychologist specifying the nature and degree of the disability. The multidisciplinary evaluation report shall include a statement of the relationship of the relevant behavior observed the other child's academic functioning, the educationally relevant medical findings, if any, and a statement of whether there is a severe discrepancy between achievement and ability which is not correctable without special education and related services.
Social Emotional Disturbance
A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree which condition adversely affects educational performance: an inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior of feelings under normal circumstances ; general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. The term does not include students who are social maladjusted, unless it is determined that they are also seriously emotionally disturbed. A student may not be determined to have a serious emotional disturbance for disciplinary reasons alone. Determination of serious emotional disturbance shall include a full assessment and comprehensive report by a certified public school psychologist and may include the diagnosis of a licensed psychiatrist.
Speech Language Impaired
Impairments of language, voice, fluency or articulation that are not due to sensory impairment or developmental delay, but which are present to such a degree that academic achievement is affected and the condition is significantly disabling to the affected person. Determination of speech and language impairment shall include the report of a certified speech clinician specifying the nature and degree of the impairment.
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 child's education 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; 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 to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Visual Impairment
A visual impairment which adversely affects the educational performance of the person. Determination of visual impairment shall include a full assessment and comprehensive report by an eye specialist specifying the nature and degree of the impairment.