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Categories of Disability Under IDEAmaster

The document outlines the categories of disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which defines eligibility for special education services. There are 14 disability categories, including autism, specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, and intellectual disability, each with specific criteria. The document provides detailed definitions and characteristics for each category to guide states in determining eligibility for services.

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Pham Thi Lan Phuong Vien NCGD
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15 views19 pages

Categories of Disability Under IDEAmaster

The document outlines the categories of disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which defines eligibility for special education services. There are 14 disability categories, including autism, specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, and intellectual disability, each with specific criteria. The document provides detailed definitions and characteristics for each category to guide states in determining eligibility for services.

Uploaded by

Pham Thi Lan Phuong Vien NCGD
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CATEGORIES OF

DISABILITY UNDER
IDEA
In order for a student to be eligible
for special education and related
services he/she must fully meet
the definition of a disability.
Who defines disability?
 The nation’s special education law is called the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, IDEA.
 IDEA defines the term “child with a disability.”
 The IDEA’s disability terms and definitions guide how States
define disability and who is eligible for special education and
related services.
 Students who receive special education and related services are
categorized under one of IDEA’s disability terms.
 There are a total of 14 different terms that a student can be
categorized under.
IDEA’s Disability Terms
 Autism  Deaf-blindness
 Specific learning disability  Deafness
 Developmental delay  Multiple disabilities
 Emotional disturbance  Orthopedic impairment
 Intellectual disability  Traumatic brain injury
 Other health impairment  Visual impairment, including
 Speech or language blindness
impairment
 Hearing impairment
Autism
 A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and
nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident
before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance.
 Characteristics associated with autism: engaging in repetitive
activities, resistance to environmental change or change in daily
routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.
 A child who shows the characteristics of autism after age 3 could
be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria above are satisfied.
Specific Learning Disability (SLD)

 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 the 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 learning problems that are primarily the
result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of intellectual
disability; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural,
or economic disadvantage.
Developmental Delay (DD)
 For children from birth to age three and children from ages three
through nine, the term developmental delay, as defined by each
State, means a delay in one or more of the following areas:
physical development; cognitive development; communication;
social or emotional development; or adaptive (behavioral)
development.
Emotional Disturbance (ED)
 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:
 An inability to learn that 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 or feelings under normal circumstances.
 A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
 A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal
or school problems.
 The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who
are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional
disturbance.
Intellectual Disability (ID)
 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.
 Until October 2010, the law used the term “mental retardation.” In
October 2010, Rosa’s Law was signed into law by President
Obama. Rosa’s Law changed the term to be used in the future to
“intellectual disability.”
Other Health Impairment (OHI)
 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—
a) 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, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette
syndrome; and
b) adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
Speech or Language Impairment

A communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired


articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment that
adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
Hearing Impairment
 An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that
adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
Deaf-Blindness
 Simultaneous 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
 A hearing impairment so severe that a child is impaired in
processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without
amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance.
Multiple Disabilities
 Simultaneous impairments (such as intellectual disability-
blindness, intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the
combination of which causes such severe educational needs that
they cannot be accommodated in a special education program
solely for one of the impairments.
 The term does not include deaf-blindness.
Orthopedic Impairment
 A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s
educational performance.
 The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly,
impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone
tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral
palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause
contractures).
Traumatic Brain Injury
 Commonly referred to as “TBI”
 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
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; 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 Including Blindness

 An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely


affects a child’s educational performance.
 The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
Questions?

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