Criteria for Eligibility

34 CFR §300.8  

“Child with a disability means a child evaluated in accordance with 300.304 through 300.311 as having intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness),a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this part as “emotional disturbance”), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education services and related services”.

Autism

Deaf-Blindness

Auditory Impairment

Intellectual Disability

Physical Impairment

Multiple Disability

Emotional Disturbance

Learning Disability

Speech Impairment

Traumatic Brain Injury

Visual Impairment

Noncategorical Early Childhood

Other Health Impairments

AUTISM

34 CFR §300.8

“Autism” means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3 that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. 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 a serious emotional disturbance. A child who manifests the characteristics of “autism” after age 3 could be diagnosed as having “autism” if criteria above is satisfied. [300.7(2c)(ii)]

Students with pervasive developmental disorders are included under this category.

The written report of evaluation shall include specific recommendations for behavioral interventions and strategies.

Autism

DEAF-BLINDNESS

34 CFR §300.8

Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and education problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.

  • has documented hearing and visual losses that, if considered individually, may not meet the requirements for auditory impairment or visual impairment, but the combination of such losses adversely affects the student’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services. The combination causes severe communications needs, other developmental needs and needs that cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.; or
  • has a documented medical diagnosis of a progressive medical condition that will result in concomitant hearing and visual losses that without special education intervention, will adversely affect the student’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services.

  Deaf-Blindness

AUDITORY IMPAIRMENT

34 CFR §300.8

Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services.

34 CFR §300.8

Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section. 

Auditory Impairment

INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

34 CFR §300.8

Intellectual Disability means significantly sub average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services.

Intellectual Disability  

PHYSICAL DISABILITY

34 CFR §300.8

Orthopedic Impairment
Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services. 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, etc.).

Orthopedic Impairment  

MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

34 CFR §300.8

Multiple disability means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc. the combination of which causes such severe educational problems that the problems cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. This does not include deaf-blindness.

Multiple Disability

EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE

34 CFR §300.8

A. The student with an emotional disturbance is one who has been determined to meet criteria in federal regulations §300.7 and state law which follow. An emotional disturbance is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

  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 or feelings under normal circumstances;
  4. a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or
  5. a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

B. The term includes schizophrenia. It does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have a serious emotional disturbance.

C. Determine that the behaviors are not the result of social maladjustment.

Emotional Disturbance

LEARNING DISABILITY

34 CFR §300.8

Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that 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 apply to children who have learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, or mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Learning Disability

SPEECH IMPAIRMENT

34 CFR §300.8

Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services.

Speech Impairment

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

34 CFR §300.8

Traumatic Brain Injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force resulting in total or partial functional disability or psycho social impairment, or both, that adversely affects the student’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services.

The term does apply 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 brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Traumatic Brain Injury

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

34 CFR §300.8

Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affect a child’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

Visual Impairment

NONCATEGORICAL EARLY CHILDHOOD

34 CFR §300.8

The term child with a disability for children aged 3 through 5 include a child:

who is experiencing developmental delays, as defined by our State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures and who by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

Noncategorical Early Childhood

OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS

34 CFR §300.8

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:

asthma, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, rheumatic fever, nephritis, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, lead poisoning, or leukemia, and adversely affects the student’s educational performance creating a need for special education (i.e. specially designed instruction) and related services. 

Other Health Impairments