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Federal Special Education Disability Categories
IDEA (2004)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a federal law that regulates all special education services in the United States. IDEA provides federal funding to state and local education agencies to guarantee appropriate special education and related services for those students who meet the criteria for eligibility. The federal guidelines for special education, defined in the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, recognizes 13 different disability categories through which students may be deemed eligible to receive special education and related services. Individual states may break some of these disabilities into separate categories; however, determination of qualification in any of these categories requires that a complete, appropriate evaluation be conducted, utilizing a variety of assessment tools and strategies. IDEA states that functional, developmental, and academic information about the child must be gathered to assist in making eligibility determinations.
THE 13 QUALIFYING CATEGORIES
- Autism
- Deaf-Blindness
- Deafness
- Emotional Disturbance
- Hearing Impairment
- Mental Retardation
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech or Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment (Including Blindness)
On the following pages, you will find specific definitions of the 13 alphabetically organized disability categories, along with specific examples of possible medical conditions that may fall under each category, useful educational app roaches to utilize while working with children who qualify for services in these categories, and teacher resources to guide you in developing further understanding of each category.
AUTISM
Autism, also referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), is a developmental disability that affects a child’s ability to communicate, understand language, play, and interact with others. Autism is a behavioral syndrome, which means that its definition is based on the pattern of behaviors that a child exhibits. To help better understand the autism spectrum, it should be noted that there are five disorders listed under ASD or PDD in the DSM-IV manual by the American Psychiatric Association (1994). These disorders include Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified, Rett’s Disorder, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. All disorders in this category exhibit abnormalities in socialization skills, use of language for communication, and behavior, but each group differs in the severity of the deficits.
Autism is not an illness or a disease and is not contagious. It is a neurological and developmental disability that is presumed to be present from birth and is always apparent before the age of three. Although autism affects the functioning of the brain, the specific cause is unknown. It is widely assumed that there are multiple causes, each of which may manifest in different forms. Children who have any diagnosis which fall in the autism spectrum may qualify to be eligible to receive special education and support services.
GENERAL AUTISM
Symptoms of Autism
As described by Nielsen (2009), autism has many varied symptoms and characteristics. Although not all people with autism manifest every characteristic, the following areas and specific behaviors are typical.
Social Interactions and Relationships
- Significant difficulty developing nonverbal communication skills
- Eye-to-eye gazing
- Facial expressions
- Body posture
- Failure to establish friendships with children the same age
- Lack of interest in sharing enjoyment, interests, or achievement with other people
- Appearing to be unaware of others
- Lack of empathy
- Difficulty relating to people
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
- Delay in or lack of learning to talk
- Problem taking steps to start and/or continue a conversation
- Nonspeech vocalizations
- Stereotyped and repetitive use of language
- Echolalia
- Repeated what one has heard again and again
- Difficulty understanding listener’s perspective
- Does not understand humor
- Takes conversation literally (communicates word for word)
- Fails to catch implied meaning
Activities and Play
- An unusual focus on pieces (e.g., focus on the wheels on the toy car rather than on the entire car)
- Using toys and objects in an unconventional manner
- Preoccupation with certain topics
- Fascination with train schedules
- Weather patterns
- Numbers
- A need for sameness and routines.
- Insists that environment and routine remain unchanged
- Insists on driving the same route to school everyday
- Stereotyped behaviors
- Body rocking
- Hand flapping
- Self-stimulatory behavior
- Self-injurious behavior (head banging)
- Preoccupation with hands
Treatment Options for Autism
According to the Autism Speaks Web site (2008), there is no single treatment protocol for all children with autism; however, most individuals respond best to highly structured behavioral programs. Brief statements of the most commonly used behavior programs include the following aspects.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
The use of positive reinforcement and other principles are used to build communication, play, social, academic, self-care, work, and community living skills and to reduce problem behaviors in learners with autism of all ages. The final goal of ABA intervention is to enable the child to function independently and successfully in a variety of settings.
Verbal Behavior Intervention
The verbal behavior approach focuses on teaching specific components of expressing language (mands, tact, intraverbals, and others). This approach begins with mand training, which teaches a child to request desired items, activities, and information—teaching the child that “words” are valuable and lead them to getting their wants and needs met.
Floortime
Developed by child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan, Floortime is a treatment method and a philosophy for interacting with autistic children. The goal and purpose for this strategy is to move the child through the six basic developmental milestones in emotional and intellectual growth. Those six include (1) self-regulation and interest in the world, (2) intimacy, (3) two-way communication, (4) complex communication, (5) emotional ideas, and (6) emotional thinking. The intervention is called Floortime because those working with the child get down on the floor to engage with the child at his or her level.
Gluten Free, Casein Free Diet (GFCF)
This is a very popular dietary intervention that consists of the removal of gluten (a protein found in barley, rye, oats, and wheat) and casein (a protein found in dairy products). This theory is based on the hypothesis that these proteins are absorbed differently in children with autism spectrum disorder. There is no scientifically based research indicating the effectiveness of this intervention; however, families report that dietary elimination of gluten and casein has helped to regulate bowel habits,...
