206-7 Wyo. Code R. §§ 7-4 - identification, Evaluation, and Eligibility Determinations
(a) Child find. Consistent with
34
C.F.R. §
300.111, each school district
or public agency shall adopt and implement policies and procedures to ensure
that all children with disabilities who reside within the school district's or
public agency's educational jurisdiction, including children with disabilities
attending private schools or facilities such as residential treatment centers,
day treatment centers, hospitals, mental health institutions, detention and
correctional facilities, children who are highly mobile, and children who are
advancing from grade to grade, regardless of the severity of their disability,
and who are in need of special education and related services, are located,
evaluated and identified in compliance with all applicable requirements of
IDEA, including but not limited to
34
C.F.R. §§
300.111, 300.131, 300.301
through 300.306 and these WDE rules and standards.
(1) School districts or public agencies must
provide parents with public notice of its child find activities pursuant to
34 C.F.R. §
300.612(b).
(ii) School districts or public agencies must
implement procedures to ensure protection of the confidentiality of any
personally identifiable information collected, used, or maintained in child
find activities in accordance with the federal regulations, including but not
limited to
34 C.F.R. §§
300.32, 300.134 and 300.610 through 300.627.
(iii) Consistent with
34
C.F.R. §§
300.130 through 300.144,
if a child is parentally enrolled in a private elementary or secondary school
outside the boundaries of the school district or public agency in which the
student is living, the school district or public agency where the private
school is located is responsible for child find activities, evaluations, and
provision of services.
(iv) School
districts and public agencies shall coordinate child find responsibilities for
children ages birth through two (2) with early intervention providers or
agencies.
(b) Initial
evaluation.
(i) In accordance with
34 C.F.R. §
300.301, either a parent, school district, or
public agency may initiate a request for a full and individual initial
evaluation.
(A) A school district or public
agency shall establish procedures for requesting an initial
evaluation.
(B) If a Comprehensive
initial evaluation is determined warranted, consent must be obtained consistent
with
34 C.F.R. §
300.300, and the evaluation must be conducted
consistent with
34 C.F.R. §§
300.301 through 300.311.
(C) A comprehensive evaluation shall include,
as needed, evaluative services provided by a licensed physician to determine a
child's medically related disability that results in the child's need for
special education and related services. [See
34 C.F.R. §
300.34(c)(5) ]
(D) If the school district or public agency
does not suspect that the child has a disability and refuses a parent's request
for an initial evaluation, the school district or public agency must provide
written notice to the parent consistent with
34 C.F.R.
§
300.503. The parent may challenge the
refusal by utilizing the dispute resolution procedures in these
rules.
(c)
Eligibility under the IDEA.
(i) Consistent
with
34 C.F.R. §
300.8, to be eligible for special education
and related services under the IDEA a child must meet the criteria for one (1)
or more of the disability categories (listed in :this section and the
disability must adversely affect the student's educational performance such
that the student needs special education, as defined in
34 C.F.R. §
300.39, and related services, as defined in
34 C.F.R. §
300.34.
(ii) Limitation. Speech Language Impairment
is the only disability category that would be considered either:
(A) A special education service if
eligibility criteria is met, or
(B)
A related service if the eligibility criteria for one (1) of the other
disability categories is satisfied.
(d) Disability categories and eligibility
criteria.
(i)
Autism Spectrum
Disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorder means a developmental disability
significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communications and social
interaction, generally evident before age three (3) that adversely affects a
child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with
Autism Spectrum Disorder are engagement in repetitive activities and
stereotyped movements, resistance to environrmental change or change in daily
routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. Autism Spectrum
Disorder does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely
affected primarily because the child has an; Emotional Disability as defined in
this section.
(A) Autism Spectrum Disorder
eligibility criteria; Eligibility is established through a comprehensive
evaluation in accordance with the requirements of these rules. The initial
evaluation shall be conducted by qualified professionals as determined
appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial evaluation
process shall include recommendations for instruction from a qualified
diagnostician, such as a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist or other qualified
professional. The initial evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address
all areas of need resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with
the requirements of these rules, a child is identified as a child with Autism
Spectrum Disorder if four (4) out of five (5) following criteria are satisfied:
(I) Impaired communication: The child is
unable to use expressive and receptive language for social communication in a
developmentally appropriate manner; lacks nonverbal communication skills or
uses abnormal nonverbal communication; uses abnormal form or content when
speaking; or is unable to initiate or sustain conversation with
others;
(II) Inappropriate
relationships: The child exhibits deficits relating to people; marked lack of
awareness of others' feelings; abnormal seeking of comfort at times of
distress; absent or abnormal social play; or inability to make friends. The
child does not relate to or use objects in an age appropriate manner;
(III) Abnormal sensory processing: The child
exhibits unusual, repetitive, or non-meaningful responses to auditory, visual,
olfactory, taste, tactile or kinesthetic stimuli;
(IV) Impaired cognitive development: The
child has difficulty with concrete versus abstract thinking, awareness,
judgment or the ability to generalize. The child may exhibit perseverative
thinking or impaired ability to process symbolic information; or
(V) Abnormal range of activities: The child
demonstrates a restricted repertoire of activities, interests, and imaginative
development evident through stereotyped body movements, persistent
preoccupation with parts of objects, distress over trivial changes in the
environment, unreasonable insistence on routines, restricted range of
interests, or preoccupations with one (1) narrow interest.
(ii)
Cognitive
Disability. Cognitive 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.
(A)
Cognitive Disability eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a
comprehensive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of these rules.
The initial evaluation shall be conducted by qualified professionals as
determined appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial
evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all areas of need
resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with these rules, a
child is identified as a child with a Cognitive Disability if all of the
following criteria are met:
(I) Documentation
on an individual test of intelligence that the child's intellectual functioning
is two (2) or more standard deviations below the mean, taking into
consideration the standard error of measurement. In the event that an
individual test of intelligence is not able to be administered to the child,
the evaluation team shall document how they determined that the child's profile
of intellectual functioning indicates sub-average performance in a majority of
areas;
(II) Documentation on an
individually administered test or assessment that the child's academic or
pre-academic skills are coexistent with the child's deficits in intellectual
functioning. : Behavior observations, criteribn-referenced tests, or
documentation of classroom performance may be used when a child's level of
functioning cannot appropriately be measured by standardized tests;
and
(III) Documentation on
standardized adaptive behavior measurements, that includes information gathered
from parents and school staff, that the child's deficits in adaptive behavior
are coexistent with the child's deficits in intellectual functioning.
(iii)
Deaf-Blindness. Deaf-Blindness means 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 a child with deafness or
a child with blindness.
(A) Deaf-Blindness
eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a comprehensive
evaluation in accordance with these rules. The initial evaluation process shall
include a licensed audiologist, certified teacher of the visually impaired, and
other qualified professionals as determined appropriate by the school district
or public agency. The initial evaluation process shall be comprehensive and
address all areas of need resulting from the suspected disability. In
accordance with the requirements of these rules, a child is identified as a
child with Deaf-Blindness if all of the following criteria are met:
(I) Eligibility criteria for Hearing
Impairment, Including Deafness, are met;
(II) Eligibility criteria for Visual
impairment, Including Blindness, .are met; and
(III) The child's current level of
performance indicates significant problems with motor functioning,
communication, self-help/adaptive skills, social skills, or pre-academic or
academic skills.
(iv)
Developmental Delay.
Developmental Delay means a child with a disability ages three (3) through
nine" (9) Who is deterrriined through appropriate diagnostic instruments and
procedures to be experiencing developmental delays in the following areas:
physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social
or emotional development, or adaptive development, that adversely affects
-educational performance and who, by reason thereof, needs special education
and related services. Developmental Delay is a category available to children
ages three (3) through nine (9) who do not qualify in other categories under
these rules, but meet the Developmental Delay criteria. School districts or
public agencies are free to utilize Developmental Delay as a disability
category if adopted by the local governing board and annual assurances are
provided to WDE that the criteria is implemented consistent with theses rules.
(A) Developmental Delay eligibility criteria:
Eligibility is established through a comprehensive evaluation in accordance
with these rules. The initial evaluation shall be conducted by qualified
professionals as determined appropriate by the school district or public
agency. The initial evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all
areas of need resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with these
rules, a child is identified as a child with a Developmental Delay if the
following criteria are met:
(I) The child's
performance is significantly below the mean of expected performance, measured
at 1.75 standard deviations below the expected performance for children of
comparable chronological age in one (1) area (physical, cognitive,
social/emotional, communication, or adaptive functioning); or
(II) The child's performance is markedly
below the mean of expected performance, measure at 1.5 standard deviations
below the expected performance for children of comparable chronological age in
two (2) or more areas (physical, cognitive, social/emotional, communication, or
adaptive functioning); and
(Ill)
Results of hearing and vision screening that provide evidence that the child's
performance is not the result of hearing or vision
impairments.
(B)
Exceeding the age of eligibility: Consistent with
34 C.F.R.
§
300.305(e)(1), the
school district or public agency must evaluate the child before determining the
child is no longer a child with a Developmental Delay.
(v)
Emotional Disability.
Emotional Disability means a condition exhibiting one (1) 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 or teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal
circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or 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 they have an Emotional Disability
as defined in these rules.
(A) Emotional
Disability eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a
comprehensive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of these rules.
The initial evaluation shall be conducted by qualified professionals as
determined appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial
evaluation process shall include recommendations for social, emotional, or
behavioral instruction from a qualified diagnostician, such as a licensed
psychologist, school psychologist, psychiatrist, or other qualified
professional. The initial evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address
all areas of need resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with
the requirements of these rules, a child is identified as a child with an
Emotional Disability if the following criteria are met:
(I) Documentation from regular education
positive behavioral interventions evidences that the behavior adversely affects
the child's educational performance.
(II) The child continues to exhibit
behavioral or emotional characteristics over a long period of time and to a
marked degree that adversely affects the child's educational performance as
evidence by one (1) or more of the following:
(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.
(Ill) The
term does not to apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is
determined that they have an Emotional Disability consistent with the criteria
above.
(vi)
Hearing Impairment, including Deafness. Hearing Impairment,
Including Deafness means a hearing impairment including deafness that, with or
without amplification, adversely affects educational performance, may, be
permanent or fluctuating, and may be so severe that the child is impaired in
processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without
amplification.
(A) Hearing Impairment,
Including Deafness .eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a
comprehensive evaluation in accordance with these rules. The initial evaluation
process shall include a licensed audiologist and other qualified professionals
as determined appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial
evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all areas of need
resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with these rules, a
child is identified as a child with a Hearing Impairment, Including Deafness,
if the following criteria are met:
(I)
Documentation of the child's potential requirement for amplification and one
(1) of the following hearing losses:
(1.)
Sensorineural hearing loss; or
(2.)
Conductive hearing loss.
(II) Documentation that the hearing loss
interferes with the student's ability to function in an educational program
using traditional materials and techniques due to the child's difficulty in
using or understanding spoken language.
(vii)
Multiple Disabilities.
Multiple Disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as Cognitive
Disability-Blindness; Traumatic Brain Injury-Orthopedic Impairment), the
combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be
accommodated in special education programs solely for one (1) of the
impairments. The term does not include Deaf-Blindness unless eligibility
criteria in an additional disability category are satisfied.
(A) Multiple Disabilities eligibility
criteria: Eligibility is established through a comprehensive evaluation in
accordance with the requirements of these rules. The initial evaluation shall
be conducted by qualified professionals as determined appropriate by the school
district or public agency. The initial evaluation process shall be
comprehensive and address ail areas of need resulting from the suspected
disability.
(viii)
Orthopedic Impairment. Orthopedic Impairment means 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).
(A) Orthopedic
Impairment eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a
comprehensive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of these rules.
The initial evaluation shall be conducted by qualified professionals as
determined appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial
evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all areas of need
resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with the requirements of
these rules, a child is identified as a child with an Orthopedic Impairment if
the following criteria are met:
(!) Documentation of an Orthopedic Impairment from a physician within the previous twelve (12) months for an initial evaluation; and
(II) Documentation that the
child's impaired motor functioning significantly interferes with educational
performance; and either
(III)
Documentation that the child exhibits deficits in muscular or neuromuscular
functioning that significantly limit the child's ability to move about, sit, or
manipulate materials required for learning; or
(IV) Documentation that the child's bone,
joint, or muscle problems affect ambulation, posture, or gross and fine motor
skills.
(ix)
Other Health Impairment. 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 or attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning,
leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette
Syndrome, and adversely affects a child's educational performance.
(A) Other Health Impairment eligibility
criteria: Eligibility is established through a comprehensive evaluation in
accordance with the requirements of these rules. The initial evaluation shall
be conducted by qualified professionals as determined appropriate by the school
district or public agency. The initial evaluation process shall be
comprehensive and address all areas of need resulting from the suspected
disability. In accordance with the requirements of these rules, a child is
identified as a child with an Other Health Impairment if the criteria below are
met:
(I) Subject to the provision below
regarding attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, documentation of an acute or chronic health problem from a licensed
physician within the previous twelve (12) months for an initial
(1.) In concert with the above provision, as
determined appropriate by a school district or public agency, a licensed
psychologist or certified psychologist, in lieu of a physician may document the
child meets eligibility requirements for an Other Health Impairment with
respect to attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder for an initial evaluation; and
(II) Documentation that educational
performance is adversely affected due to acute or chronic limited strength,
vitality, or alertness,
(x)
Specific Learning Disability
(SLD). Specific Learning Disability means a disorder in one (1) 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, including .conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain
injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. A
Specific Learning Disability does not include learning problems that are
primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, cognitive
disability, emotional disability, or of environmental, cultural or economic
disadvantage.
(A) Specific Learning
Disability eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a
comprehensive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of these rules.
The initial evaluation shall be conducted by a group of qualified professionals
as determined appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial
evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all areas of need
resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with these rules, a
child is identified as a child with a Specific Learning Disability if the
criteria in this section are satisfied.
(B) Consistent with
34 C.F.R. §
300.308, the determination of whether a child
suspected of having a Specific Learning Disabiiity is a child with a disability
as defined in
34 C.F.R. §
300.8, must be made by a group, which
includes the child's parents and qualified professionals, including:
(I) The child's regular teacher, of if the
child does not have a regular teacher, a regular classroom teacher qualified to
teach a child of his or her age; or
(II) For a child of less than school age, an
individual qualified by Wyoming to teach a child of his or her age;
and
(III) At least one (1) person
qualified to conduct individual diagnostic examinations of children, such as a
school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, or remedial reading
teacher.
(C) With
respect to the evaluation described in paragraph (A) above, and consistent with
34
C.F.R. §
300.310, the school district or
public agency must ensure that the child is observed in the child's learning
environment including the regular classroom setting, to document the child's
academic performance and behavior in the areas of difficulty. In the case of a
child of less than school age or out of school, a group member must observe the
child in an environment appropriate for a child of that age. The group, in
determining whether a child has a Specific Learning Disability, must decide to:
(I) Use information from an observation in a
routine classroom instruction and monitoring of tine child's performance that
was done before the child was referred for evaluation; or
(II) Have at least one (1) member of the
group conduct an observation of the child's academic performance in the regular
classroom after the child has been referred for an evaluation and parental
consent, consistent with
34 C.F.R. §
300.300(a), is
obtained.
(D) Consistent
with
34
C.F.R. §
300.309(a),
the group determines that a child has a Specific Learning Disability if:
(I) The child does not achieve adequately for
the child's age or meet Wyoming grade-level standards in one (1) or more of the
following areas, when provided with learning experiences and instruction
appropriate for the child's age or Wyoming grade-level standards:
(1.) Oral expression;
(2.) Listening comprehension;
(3.) Written expression;
(4.) Basic reading skill;
(5.) Reading fluency skills;
(6.) Reading comprehension;
(7.) Mathematics calculation;
(8.) Mathematics problem solving; and
(II) The child does not
make sufficient progress to meet age or Wyoming grade-level standards in one
(1) or more of the above areas when using a process based on the child's
response to scientific, research-based intervention.
(E) The group shall use either the Wyoming
Severe Discrepancy Formula or a response to intervention process when
determining whether a child is not making sufficient progress to meet age or
Wyoming grade-level standards.
(I) Wyoming
Severe Discrepancy Formula: The group may determine that the child demonstrates
a severe discrepancy between current achievement level and expected achievement
level of at least 22 points upon an initial evaluation, utilizing Appendix A of
these rules. Expected achievement is based on the correlation between tests of
the child's composite intellectual standard score compared to the child's
composite achievement score in one (1) or more core achievement areas.
(1.) The Wyoming Severe Discrepancy Formula
in Appendix A of these rules must be utilized when making an eligibility
determination based on a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and
achievement.
(2.) A severe
discrepancy exists when application of the Wyoming Severe Discrepancy Formula
results in a difference between expected. and actual achievement greater than
or equal to 1.5 standard deviations (See Appendix A).
(II) Response to intervention process: The
group may determine that the child does not make sufficient progress to meet
age or Wyoming grade-level standards in one (1) or more of the areas in
paragraph (D)(1)) of this section when using a process based on the child's
response to scientific, research-based intervention.
(F) Consistent with
34
C.F.R. §
300.309, to ensure that
underachievement in a child suspected of having a Specific Learning Disability
is not due to lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, as part of
the evaluation the group must consider:
(I)
Data that demonstrate that prior to, or as a part of, the referral process, the
child was provided appropriate instruction in regular education settings,
delivered by qualified personnel; and
(II) Data based documentation of repeated
assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal
assessment of student progress during instruction, which was provided to the
child's parents.
(G)
Consistent with
34
C.F.R. §
300.309, the group must
determine that underachievement of a child suspected of having a Specific
Learning Disability is not primarily the result of:
(I) A visual, hearing, or motor
disability;
(II) Cognitive
disability;
(III) Emotional
disability;
(IV) Cultural
factors;
(V) Environmental or
economic disadvantage; or
(VI)
Limited English proficiency.
(H) Consistent with
34
C.F.R. §
300.309(c), a
school district or public agency must promptly request parental consent to
evaluate the child to determine if the child needs special education and
related services, and must adhere to the timeframes in
34 C.F.R. §§
300.301 through 300.303, unless extended by
mutual written agreement of the child's parents and the group of qualified
professionals under the following circumstances:
(I) If, prior to a referral, a child has not
made adequate progress after an appropriate period of time when provided
instruction described in (F) above, and
(II) Whenever a child is referred for an
evaluation.
(1) Specific documentation
required for the eligibility determination. Consistent with
34 C.F.R.
§
300.311, for a child suspected of
having a Specific Learning Disability, tine documentation of the determination
of eligibility must contain a statement of each of the following:
(I) Whether the child has a Specific Learning
Disability;
(II) The basis for
making the determination, including an assurance that the determination has
been made in accordance with
34 C.F.R. §
300.306(c)(1);'
(III) The relevant behavior, if any, noted
during the observation of the child and the relationship of that behavior to
the child's academic functioning;
(IV) The educationally relevant medical
findings, if any;
(V) Whether:
(1.) The child does not achieve adequately
for the child's age or to meet Wyoming grade-level standards consistent with
34
C.F.R. §
300.309(a)(1);
and
(2.) The child does not make
sufficient progress to meet age or Wyoming grade-level standards consistent
with
34
C.F.R. §
300.309(a)(2)(i).
(VI) The determination of the
group concerning the effects of a visual, hearing, or motor disability;
cognitive disability; emotional disability cultural factors; environmental or
economic disadvantage; or limited English proficiency on the child's
achievement level.
(VII) If the
child has participated in a process that assesses a child's response to
scientific, research-based intervention:
(1.)
The instructional strategies used and the student-centered data collected;
and
(2.) The documentation that the
child's parents were notified about:
a.
Wyoming's policies regarding the amount and nature of student performance data
that would be collected and the general education services that would be
provided;
b. Strategies for
increasing the child's rate of learning; and
c. The parents' right to request an
evaluation.
(VIII) Each group member must certify in
writing whether the report reflects the member's conclusion. If it does not,
the group member must submit a separate statement presenting the member's
conclusions.
(xi)
Speech or Language
Impairment. 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.
(A) Speech or Language Impairment eligibility
Griteria: Eligibility is establislied through a comprehensive evaluation in
accordance with the requirement? of these rules. The initial evaluation shall
be conducted by a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and other qualified
professionals as determined appropriate by the school district or public
agency. The initial evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address al]
areas of need resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with the
requirements of these rules, a child is identified as a child with a Speech, or
Language Impairment in the qualifying area(s) of Articulation, Stuttering,
Language Impairment, or Voice Impairment if the following specific criteria are
met.
(I) Articulation eligibility criteria.
Articulation means speech sound production or phonological errors atypical of a
child of comparable age and development.
(1.)
Eligibility criteria: One (1) of the following criteria must be met:
a. Documentation that the child exhibits
errors of speech sound production beyond the age at which 85% of typically
developing children have achieved mastery (based on current developmental
norms);
b. Documentation that the
child's performance on a standardized evaluation instrument is 1.5 standard
deviations or greater below the mean for the child's chronological age based on
a norm-referenced test of articulation or phonology;
c. Documentation that one (1) or more
phonological patterns of sound are significantly disordered and evidence that
the child's conversational intelligibility is affected; or
d. Documentation that the child's scores are
at a moderate, severe, or profound rating on appropriate evaluation
instruments.
(II) Stuttering eligibility criteria.
Stuttering means abnormal flow of speech evident in interruptions by
hesitations, repetitious or prolongation of sounds, syllables, words or phrases
or articulary positions or by avoidance and struggle behaviors.
(1.) Eligibility criteria: Either criteria a.
or b. must be met in addition to criteria c.
a. Documentation that the child demonstrates
at least a moderate rating or its equivalent on a formal fluency rating scale;
or
b. Documentation that the child
exhibits stuttering on 5% or more of words spoken in a representative language
sample or demonstrates stuttering in varied speaking situations; and
c. An observation documenting that the
child's stuttering interferes with communication and calls attention to
itself.
(III)
Language Impairment eligibility criteria. Language Impairment means a
deficiency in language comprehension or production evident in tine content,
form or use of oral communication or its equivalent.
(1.) Eligibility criteria: Both of the
following criteria must be met:
a. The child
demonstrates on standardized measures an understanding and use of morphologic,
Syntactic, semantic, or pragmatic patterns at 1.5 standard deviations below the
mean for the child's chronological age; and
b. Documentation that receptive or expressive
language interferes with the child's oral communication or primary mode of
communication.
(IV) Voice Impairment. Voice Impairment means
a significant deviation in pitch, intensity or quality, which significantly
interferes with communication for an extended period of time and is atypical
for a child of comparable age and development.
(1.) Voice Impairment eligibility criteria:
Voice Impairment must be evidenced by:
a.
Documentation that the child exhibits significantly abnormal voice quality,
pitch, resonance, loudness, or duration; and
b. Documentation that the condition is
present for an extended period of time.
(B) The evaluation process must
take Into account that the child does not exhibit any one (1) of the following
exclusionary factors:
(I) Mild, transitory,
or developmentally appropriate speech or language difficulties that children
experience at various times to various degrees;
(II) Speech or language difficulties
resulting from dialectical difference or from learning English as a second
language, unless the child has a Language Impairment In his or her native
language;
(III) Difficulties with
auditory processing without a concomitant impairment in speech sound
production;
(IV) A tongue thrust
which exists in the absence of a concomitant impairment in speech sound
production; or
(V) Elective or
selective mutism or school phobia without a documented oral Speech or Language
impairment.
(xii)
Traumatic Brain Injury.
Traumatic Brain Injury means 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. Traumatic Brain Injury applies to open or closed head injuries
resulting in impairments in one (1) 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, Traumatic Brain injury does not
apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain
injuries induced by birth trauma.
(A)
Traumatic Brain Injury eligibility criteria: Eligibility is established through
a comprehensive evaluation in accordance with the requirements of these rules.
The initial evaluation shall be conducted by qualified professionals as
determined appropriate by the school district or public agency. The initial
evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all areas of need
resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with these requirements,
a child is identified as a child with a Traumatic Brain injury if the following
criteria are satisfied:
(I) Documentation
from a physician, within the previous twelve (12) months, that the child has
sustained a brain trauma (e.g., skull fracture, contusions, and/or bullet
wound, etc.) resulting in the onset of an impairment; and
(II) Documentation that the Traumatic Brain
Injury adversely affects the child's educational performance in one (1) or more
of the following areas: cognitive ability, social behavior, use of adaptive
skills, physical ability, vision, hearing, or ability to communicate.
(xiii)
Visual
Impairment, Including Blindness. Visual Impairment, Including Blindness
means an impairment in vision, even with correction, that adversely affects a
child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and
blindness:;:;
(A) Visual Impairment
eilgibility criteria: Eligibility is established through a comprehensive
evaluation in accordance with these rules. The initial evaluation team shall
consist of a certified teacher of the visually impaired and other qualified
professionals as determined appropriate by the school district or public
agency. The initial evaluation process shall be comprehensive and address all
areas of need resulting from the suspected disability. In accordance with the
requirements of these rules, a child is identified as a child with a Visual
Impairment, Including Blindness if criteria in paragraph (I) is met in addition
to one (1) additional criteria in paragraphs (II) through (V).
(I) Documentation of loss of vision which
adversely affects the child's educational performance and requires the use of
specialized tests, techniques, materials, or assistive technology devices;
and
(II) Documentation of visual
acuity in the better eye with the best possible correction of:
(1.) 20/200 or less (blind); or
(2.) 20/50 or less (partially
sighted);
(III)
Documentation of reduced visual field to 20 degrees or less in the better
eye;
(IV) Documentation of a
progressive loss of vision which may, in the future, affect the child's ability
to learn; or
(V) Visual acuity,
which cannot be measured, but in which the child has a functional loss of
vision as determined through a functional vision assessment.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.