CATEGORY DEFINITIONS AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Mild Mental Retardation
Moderate Mental Retardation
Severe Mental Retardation
Multiple Disabilities
Multiple Disabilities
with Severe Sensory Impairment
Orthopedic Impairment
Preschool Moderate Delay
Preschool Severe Delay
Preschool Speech/Language Delay
Speech/Language Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impairment
AAC Augmentative and Alternative Communication
ADE Arizona Department of Education
AE Age Equivalent
APE Adaptive Physical Education
CA Chronological Age
CRT Criterion Referenced Test
CST Child Study Team
DA Developmental Age
DDD Division of Developmental Disabilities
DO District Office
ESL English As A Second Language
ESY Extended School Year
GE Grade Equivalent
IEP Individual Education Plan
LA Language Age
LEP Limited English Proficient
LRE Least Restrictive Environment
MDC Multidisciplinary Conference
MET Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team
OT Occupational Therapy/Therapist
PHLOTE Primary Home Language Other Than English (“float”)
PT Physical Therapy/Therapist
RTC Residential Treatment Center
SD Standard Deviation
SLP Speech Language Pathologist
SP.ED. Special Education
SPL Speech/Language
SS Standard Score
II.Special Education for Exceptional Children: Definitions
Arizona Education Code 1994
Article 4.15-761
Autism (A):
a developmental disability that significantly affects verbal and nonverbal
communication, that is generally evident before the age of three and that adversely
affects
educational performance. Characteristics include irregularities and impairments
in
communication, engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements,
resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines and unusual responses
to
sensory experiences. Autism does not include children with characteristics
of emotional
disability as defined in this section.
Emotional Disability
(ED): (a) a condition whereby a child exhibits one or more of the
following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree
that adversely
affects the child’s performance in the educational environment:
(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
peers and teachers.
(3) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(4) a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or
school problems(b) includes children who are schizophrenic but does not include children who
are socially maladjusted unless they are also determined to have an emotional disability
as determined by an evaluation.
Hearing Impairment (HI): a hearing
impairment as determined by evaluation, which
interferes with the child’s performance in the educational environment
and requires the
provision of special education and related services.
Other Health
Impairment (OHI): limited strength, vitality or alertness due to chronic
or acute health problems which adversely affect a pupil’s educational performance.
Specific
Learning Disability (SLD): a specific learning disorder in one or more
of the
basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in the use of language,
spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak,
read, write, spell, or mathematical calculations. The term includes such
conditions as
perceptual disabilities, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and aphasia.
The term does
not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing,
motor, or
emotional disabilities, of mental retardation, or of environmental, cultural
or economic
disadvantage.
Mental Retardation:
a significant impairment of general intellectual functioning that
exists concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior that adversely affects
a child’s
performance in the educational environment.
Mild Mental Retardation (MIMR):
performance on standard measures of intellectual
and adaptive behavior between two and three standard deviations below the mean
for
children of the same age.
Moderate Mental Retardation (MOMR):
performance on standard measures of intellectual and
adaptive behavior between three and four standard deviations below the mean
for children of the same
age.
Severe Mental Retardation (SMR): performance
on standard measures of intellectual
and adaptive behavior at least four standard deviations below the mean for children
the same age.
Multiple Disabilities
(MD): learning and developmental problems resulting from
multiple disabilities as determined by evaluation that cannot be provided adequately
in a
program designed to meet the needs of children with less complex disabilities.
Multiple
disabilities include any of the following conditions that require the provision
of special
education and related services:
(a) Two or more of the following conditions:
(1) Hearing Impairment
(2) Orthopedic Impairment
(3) Moderate Mental Retardation
(4) Visual Impairment
(b) A child with a disability listed in subdivision (a) of this paragraph existing
concurrently with a condition of mild mental retardation, emotional disability
or specific learning disability.
Multiple Disabilities with Severe Sensory
Impairment (MDSSI): multiple disabilities
that include at least one of the following: (a) severe visual impairment or
severe hearing
impairment in combination with another severe disability (Autism, Orthopedic
Impairment,
Severe Mental Retardation, Moderate Mental Retardation),
(b) severe visual impairment and severe hearing impairment.
Orthopedic Impairment
(OI):one or more severe orthopedic impairments and includes
those that are caused by congenital anomaly, disease and other causes, such
as amputation
or cerebral palsy, and that adversely affects a child’s performance in
the educational setting.
Preschool
Moderate Delay (PMD): performance by a preschool child (a child who is at
least three years of age but who has not reached the required age for kindergarten)
on a
norm referenced test that measures at least one and one-half, but not more than
three
standard deviations below the mean for children of the same chronological age
in two or
more of the following areas: cognitive development, physical development,communication
development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development.The results
of the norm
referenced measure must be corroborated by information from a comprehensive
developmental
assessment and from parental input, if available, as measured by a judgment
based assessment or survey.
If there is a discrepancy between measures, the evaluation team shall determine
eligibility based
upon a preponderance of information presented.
Preschool
Severe Delay (PSD): performance by a preschool child (a child who is at
least
three years of age but who has not reached the required age for kindergarten)
on a norm
referenced test that measures more than three standard deviations below the
mean for children
of the same chronological age in two or more of the following areas: cognitive
development,
physical development, communication development, social or emotional development,
or
adaptive development. The results of the norm referenced measure must
be corroborated
by information from a comprehensive developmental assessment and from parental
input,
if available, as measured by a judgment based assessment or survey. If
there is a discrepancy
between measures, the evaluation team shall determine eligibility based upon
a
preponderance of information presented.
Preschool
Speech/Language Delay (PSL): performance by a preschool child
(a child who is at least three years of age but who has not reached the required
age for kindergarten)
on a norm referenced language test that measures at least one and one-half standard
deviations
below the mean for children of the same chronological age or whose speech, out
of context, is
unintelligible to a listener who is unfamiliar with the child. Eligibility
under this paragraph is
appropriate only if a comprehensive developmental assessment or norm referenced
assessment
and parental input indicate that the child is not eligible for services under
another preschool category.
The evaluation team shall determine eligibility based upon the preponderance
of the information presented.
Speech/Language
Impairment (SLI): a communication disorder such as stuttering,
impaired articulation, severe disorders of syntax or vocabulary or functional
language skills,
or a voice impairment, as determined by evaluation, to the extent that it calls
attention to itself,
interferes with communication or causes the child to be maladjusted.
Traumatic
Brain Injury (TBI): an acquired injury to the brain that is caused by
an
external physical force that results in total or partial functional disability
or psychosocial
impairment, or both, that adversely affects educational performance. The
term applies to
open or closed head injuries resulting in mild, moderate or severe impairments
in one or
more areas, including cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning, abstract
thinking,
judgement, problem solving, sensory, perceptual and motor abilities, psychosocial
behavior,
physical functions, information processing, and speech. The term does
not include brain
injuries that are congenital or degenerative or brain injuries induced by birth
trauma.
Visual Impairment(VI):
a visual impairment, as determined by evaluation, that
interferes with the child’s performance in the educational environment
and that requires
the provision of special education and related services.
III. THE COMMUNICATION SLILLS PROGRAM:
CRITERIA FOR PLACEMENT AND TERMINATION
The CommunicationSkills (CS) Program is for communicatively disabled students in the primary grades (K-3). The intent of the program is to provide an appropriate educational experience for those children having a severe communication disorder which impairs the student’s ability to communicate and learn academics adequately within a traditional classroom or resource room. It does not include students whose communication problems can be effectively treated in a resource speech/language impaired program.
The communicatively disordered student is defined as a student who demonstrates a severe discrepancy between their language skills and intellectual abilities, and whose academic performance is severely impaired as a result. The communicatively disordered student does not include bilingual students who are having difficulty with English, but who are proficient in their primary language. In addition, the communication disorder must not be primarily a result of a visual, hearing, or motor handicap, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
Definition - Functional Communication Skills: A Component
for CD placement
Functional Communication Skills are a child’s ability to communicate his
basic wants and needs, as well as his ability to engage in successful verbal
interactions with peers and adults. It incorporates the child’s ability
to initiate verbal interactions, adequately respond and maintain a conversational
exchange. It includes the child’s ability to use language effectively
to label, make requests (for object, action,), command, protest or deny.
It also includes the child’s ability to use language for social interactions
(such as greeting, requesting permission, requesting a social routine, seeking
comfort, to gain attention), for joint attention (to comment, request information/inquire,
provide information), or to inform about self.
Placement Criteria for Communication Skills Program
In order to place a child in the CS program, certain criteria must be met. The
child must have a chronological age not exceeding eight years, or second grade.
The language disorder must not be primarily due to any of the following conditions:
mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or environmental, cultural, economic,
or educational disadvantage. The IEP team must determine that a student
has a severe discrepancy between language skills and intellectual ability assessed
through formal and/or informal inventories, including a nonverbal IQ test such
as the Leiter, or C-TONI.
The CS room is not a self-contained classroom. Students
are in a homeroom and join a class for specials as well as lunch and recess,
if possible. The goal of the CS room is to provide as much exposure to normal
communication patterns/structure as possible within the school environment.
Some students will spend extended periods of time in the genreal classroom as
their functional communication skills increase.
Criteria for Termination
Placement in the Communication Skills program may be terminated when any one
of the following criteria are met:
Speech/Language Battery for C.D. Placement Consideration
The Core Battery must include one of the following receptive and one expressive
vocabulary assessment tool, as well as at least two of the general language
assessment tools, articulation assessment, and informal language sample/functional
communication skills (information from observational checklists).
Vocabulary:
Expressive One Word
Expressive Vocabulary Test
Receptive One Word
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test
Language:
Oral & Written Language Scale
TACL
CELF
PLS
TOLD
Articulation:
Goldman Fristoe
Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis
Photo Articulation Test-3
Informal Language Sample Information/ Functional Communication Skills
Additional Tests (optional): To
be used for more information, but not for placement in and of themselves.
Oral Periph Exam
Auditory Discrimination
TEEM
Boehm Test of Basic Concepts
Bracken
TAPS/TARPS
Any others as determined by the Speech/Language Pathologist