Based on N.J.A.C. 6A:14, Effective July 6, 2000
AUTISM (AUT) - "Autistic" means a pervasive
developmental disability which significantly impacts verbal and nonverbal
communication and social interaction that adversely affects a student's
educational performance. Onset is generally evident before age three. Other
characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive
activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or
change in daily routine, unusual responses to sensory experiences and lack of
responsiveness to others. The term does not apply if the student's adverse
educational performance is due to emotional disturbance as defined below. A
child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three may be
classified as autistic if the criteria in this paragraph are met. An assessment
by a certified speech-language specialist and an assessment by a physician
trained in neurodevelopmental assessment are required.
DEAF-BLINDNESS (DB) - "Multiple disabilities:
Deaf/blindness" means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, 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 students with deafness or students with blindness.
EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE (ED) -
"Emotionally disturbed" means 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 student’s educational performance due to:
An inability to learn that
cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors;
i. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal
relationships with peers and teachers;
ii. Inappropriate types of behaviors or feelings under normal
circumstances;
iii. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a
tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or
school problems.
HEARING
IMPAIRMENTS (HI) - "Auditorily
impaired" corresponds to "auditorily handicapped" and further
corresponds to the Federal eligibility categories of deafness or hearing
impairment. "Auditorily impaired" means an inability to hear within
normal limits due to physical impairment or dysfunction of auditory mechanisms
characterized by (c)1i or ii below. An audiological evaluation by a specialist
qualified in the field of audiology and a speech and language evaluation by a
certified speech-language specialist are required.
i.
"Deafness" - The auditory impairment is so severe that the
student is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with
or without amplification and the student's educational performance is adversely
affected.
ii. "Hearing impairment" - An impairment in hearing,
whether permanent or fluctuating which adversely affects the student's
educational performance.
MULTIPLE DISABILITIES (MD) - "Multiply
disabled" corresponds to "multiply handicapped" and means the
presence of two or more disabling conditions. Eligibility for speech-language
services as defined in this section shall not be one of the disabling
conditions for classification based on the definition of "multiply
disabled." "Multiply disabled" is characterized as follows:
i. "Multiple disabilities" means concomitant impairments,
the combination of which causes such severe educational problems that programs
designed for the separate disabling conditions will not meet the student’s
educational needs.
MENTAL RETARDATION (MR)
- "Cognitively impaired"
corresponds to "mentally retarded" and means a disability that is
characterized by significantly below average general cognitive functioning
existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior; manifested during the
developmental period that adversely affects a student’s educational performance
and is characterized by one of the following:
i.
"Mild cognitive impairment" corresponds to
"educable" and means a level of cognitive development and adaptive behavior
in home, school and community settings that are mildly below age expectations
with respect to all of the following:
(1) The quality and rate of learning;
(2) The use of symbols for the
interpretation of information and the solution of problems; and
(3) Performance on an individually
administered test of intelligence that falls within a range of two to three
standard deviations below the mean.
ii.
"Moderate cognitive impairment" corresponds to
"trainable" and means a level of cognitive development and adaptive
behavior that is moderately below age expectations with respect to the
following:
(1) The ability to use symbols in the
solution of problems of low complexity;
(2) The ability to function socially without
direct and close supervision in home, school and community settings; and
(3) Performance on an individually
administered test of intelligence that falls three standard deviations or more
below the mean.
iii.
"Severe cognitive impairment" corresponds to "eligible
for day training" and means a level of functioning severely below age
expectations whereby in a consistent basis the student is incapable of giving
evidence of understanding and responding in a positive manner to simple
directions expressed in the child’s primary mode of communication and cannot in
some manner express basic wants and needs.
OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS (OHI) - "Other
health impaired" corresponds to "chronically ill" and means a
disability characterized by having limited strength, vitality or alertness,
including a heightened alertness with respect to the educational environment,
due to chronic or acute health problems, such as attention deficit disorder or
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a heart condition, tuberculosis,
rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy,
lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes or any other medical condition, such as
Tourette Syndrome, that adversely affects a student’s educational performance.
A medical assessment documenting the health problem is required.
ORTHOPEDIC IMPAIRMENTS (OI) -
"Orthopedically impaired" corresponds to "orthopedically
handicapped" and means a disability characterized by a severe orthopedic
impairment that adversely affects a student’s educational performance. The term
includes malformation, malfunction or loss of bones, muscle or tissue. A
medical assessment documenting the orthopedic condition is required.
PRESCHOOL DISABLED (PRE) -
"Preschool disabled" corresponds to preschool handicapped and
means an identified disabling condition and/or a measurable developmental
impairment which occurs in children between the ages of three and five years
and requires special education and related services.
SOCIAL MALADJUSTMENT (SM) - "Social maladjustment" means a
consistent inability to conform to the standards for behavior established by
the school. Such behavior is seriously disruptive to the education of the
student or other students and is not due to emotional disturbance as defined in
emotional disturbance above. SM is not a reportable federal category.
SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES (SLD) – “Specific learning disability" corresponds to
"perceptually impaired" and means a disorder in one or more of the
basic psychological processes involved in understanding or 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. It is characterized by a severe discrepancy between the student's
current achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the following
areas:
(1)
Basic reading skills;
(2)
Reading comprehension;
(3)
Oral expression;
(4)
Listening comprehension;
(5)
Mathematical computation;
(6)
Mathematical reasoning; and
(7)
Written expression.
i. The term does not apply to students who have learning problems
that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, general
cognitive deficits, emotional disturbance or environmental, cultural or
economic disadvantage.
ii. The district shall adopt
procedures that utilize a statistical formula and criteria for determining
severe discrepancy. Evaluation shall include assessment of current academic
achievement and intellectual ability.
SPEECH-LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENTS - Divided into two categories as follows:
"Language Impaired" (LI) - "Communication impaired" corresponds to
"communication handicapped" and means a language disorder in the
areas of morphology, syntax, semantics and/or pragmatics/discourse which
adversely affects a student’s educational performance and is not due primarily
to an auditory impairment. The problem shall be demonstrated through functional
assessment of language in other than a testing situation and performance below
1.5 standard deviations, or the 10th percentile on at least two standardized
oral language tests, where such tests are appropriate. When the area of
suspected disability is language, assessment by a certified speech-language
specialist and assessment to establish the educational impact are required. The
speech-language specialist shall be considered a child study team member.
i. When it is determined that the student meets
the eligibility criteria according to the definition for language impaired
above, but requires instruction by a speech-language specialist only, the
student shall be classified as eligible for speech-language services.
ii. When the area of suspected disability is a
disorder of articulation, voice or fluency, the student shall be evaluated
according to N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.4(e) and if eligible, classified as eligible for
speech-language services according to N.J.A.C. 6A:14-3.6(a).
SPEECH ONLY (SP) - "Eligible for speech-language services"
means a speech and/or language disorder as follows: A speech disorder in
articulation, phonology, fluency, voice, or any combination, unrelated to
dialect, cultural differences or the influence of a foreign language, which
adversely affects a student’s educational performance; and/or a language
disorder which meets the criteria for language impaired and the student
requires speech-language services only.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) -
"Traumatic brain injury" corresponds to "neurologically
impaired" and means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external
physical force or insult to the brain, resulting in total or partial functional
disability or psychosocial impairment, or both. 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.
VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS (VI) -
"Visually impaired" corresponds to "visually handicapped"
and means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects
a student’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
An assessment by a specialist qualified to determine visual disability is
required. Students with visual impairments shall be reported to the Commission
for the Blind and Visually Impaired.