Descriptions of the Disabilities (2004)

  
"Children with disabilities" means those children evaluated, in accordance with this chapter, and determined, as a result of this evaluation to have autism, deaf-blindness, a developmental delay, a hearing impairment which may include deafness, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, an orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, an emotional disturbance, a severe disability, a specific learning disability, a speech or language impairment, a traumatic brain injury, or a visual impairment which may include blindness, who by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.  The term "student" may also be used to refer to a child with a disability.

"Autism" means 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. 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 disturbance as defined in this chapter.  A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria in this definition satisfied.

"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 educational performance.

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

"Developmental delay" means a disability affecting a child ages two through eight: 

1. Who is experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development; and

2. Who by reason thereof, needs special education and related services (Eligibility as a child with a developmental delay). (8VAC 20-80-56F).

"Emotional disturbance" means as follows:

1.  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 which 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.
2.  The term includes children who are schizophrenic, but does not include children who are socially maladjusted unless it is determined that they are seriously emotionally disturbed.

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

"Mental retardation" means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, which adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

"Multiple disabilities" means two or more impairments at the same time (such as mental retardation - blindness, mental retardation - orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include children with deaf-blindness.

"Orthopedic impairment" means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., club foot, 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 contracture).

"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 (i) is due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, arthritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and diabetes; and (ii)   adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

"Severe disability" means a primary disability that:
  1. Severely impair cognitive abilities, adaptive skills, and life functioning;
  2. May have associated severe behavior problems;
  3. May have the high probability of additional physical and/or sensory disabilities; and
  4. Requires significantly more educational resources than are provided for children with mild and moderate disabilities in special education programs.
"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, 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 disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

"Speech or language impairment" means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, which adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
"Speech/language pathology" includes:
  1. Identification of children with speech or language disorders;
  2. Diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language disorders;
  3. Referral for medical or other professional attention necessary for the habilitation of speech or language disorders;
  4. Provisions of speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of communicative disorders; and
  5. Counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language disorders.
"Traumatic brain injury" means 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 brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

"Visual impairment including blindness" means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

 

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