Disability Glossary

  1. “Charter school” means a public charter school as defined at Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-13- 104(6).

 

(2)  “Child with a disability” means, children with disabilities and youth between three (3) and twenty-one (21) years of age, inclusive who have been evaluated in accordance with §§300.304 through 300.311, TCA § 49-10-102 and regulations of the state board of education. Any child with a disability who attains twenty-two (22) years of age subsequent to the commencement of a school year continues to be a child with a disability for the remainder of that school year.

The State Board of Education adopts by reference the Compilation of Federal Regulations at 34 C.F.R. Parts 300 and 301 in their entirety unless otherwise provided herein as the policies and procedures for administration of special education programs and services in the state. The regulations, evaluation procedures and eligibility criteria are available from the Division of Special Education, Tennessee Department of Education, 710 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243, or on the internet by accessing the state department of education’s website at http://www.state.tn.us/education/speced/.

  1.   “Child with a disability” means a child with mental retardation, a hearing impairment (including

    deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, specific learning disability, multiple disabilities, deaf blindness, developmental delay, functional delay and intellectually gifted and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

  2.   “Autism” means a developmental disability, which significantly affects verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three (3) 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 experience. 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 section.

    The term of Autism also includes students who have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder such as Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder—Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) or Asperger’s Syndrome when the child’s educational performance is adversely affected. Additionally, it may also include a diagnosis of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder such as Rett’s or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. Autism may exist concurrently with other areas of disability.

    After age three (3), a child could be diagnosed as having Autism if the child manifests the above characteristics. Children with Autism demonstrate the following characteristics prior to age 3:

    1.  Difficulty relating to others or interacting in a socially appropriate manner;
    2.   Absence, disorder, or delay in verbal and/or nonverbal communication; and
    3.   One or more of the following:

      Insistence on sameness as evidenced by restricted play patterns, repetitive body movements, persistent or unusual preoccupations, and/or resistance to change;

      Unusual or inconsistent responses to sensory stimuli.

  3. “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 by addressing any one of the impairments. A child with deaf-blindness shall be:
    1. A child who meets criteria for Deafness/Hearing Impairment and Visual Impairment;
    2.   A child who is diagnosed with a degenerative condition or syndrome which will lead to Deaf-Blindness, and whose present level of functioning is adversely affected by both hearing and vision deficits; or
    3. A child with severe multiple disabilities due to generalized central nervous system dysfunction, and who exhibits auditory and visual impairments or deficits which are not perceptual in nature.
  4.   “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 a child’s educational performance. The child has:
  1.   An inability to communicate effectively due to Deafness; and/or
  2. An inability to perform academically on a level commensurate with the expected level because of Deafness; and/or
  3. Delayed speech and/or language development due to Deafness.
  1.  “Developmental Delay” refers to children aged three (3) through nine (9) who are experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical, cognitive, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive development that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other disability categories shall be used if they are more descriptive of a young child’s strengths and needs. Local school systems have the option of using Developmental Delay as a disability category. Initial eligibility as Developmental Delay shall be determined before the child’s seventh birthday.
  2.  “Emotional Disturbance” means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance over an extended period of time (during which time documentation of informal assessments and interventions are occurring):
    1. Inability to learn which cannot be explained by limited school experience, cultural differences, or intellectual, sensory, or health factors;
    2.  Inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and school personnel;
    3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings when no major or unusual stressors are evident;
    4. General pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression;
    5. (e)  Tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

    The term may include other mental health diagnoses. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an Emotional Disturbance. Social maladjustment includes, but is not limited to, substance abuse related behaviors, gang-related behaviors, oppositional defiant behaviors, and/or conduct behavior problems.

  3.  “Functional Delay” means a continuing significant disability in intellectual functioning and achievement which adversely affects the student’s ability to progress in the general school program, but adaptive behavior in the home or community is not significantly impaired and is at or near a level appropriate to the student’s chronological age, including:
    1.  Significantly impaired intellectual functioning which is two or more standard deviations below the mean, and difficulties in these areas cannot be the primary reason for significantly impaired scores on measures of intellectual functioning;
    2. Limited English proficiency;
    3.   Cultural factors;
    4.  Medical conditions that impact school performance;
  1.  Environmental factors;
  2.   Communication, sensory or motor disabilities;

    Deficient academic achievement which is at or below the fourth percentile in two or more total or composite scores in the following areas:

    1. Basic reading skills;
    2. Reading fluency skills;
    3. Reading comprehension;
    4. Mathematics calculation;
    5. Mathematics problem solving;
    6. Written expression; or
    7. Home or school adaptive behavior scores that fall above the level required for meeting Mental Retardation eligibility standards.
  1.  “Hearing Impairment” means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but does not include Deafness.

    A child shall have one or more of the following characteristics:

    1.  Inability to communicate effectively due to a Hearing Impairment;
    2.   Inability to perform academically on a level commensurate with the expected level because of a Hearing Impairment;
    3.   Delayed speech and/or language development due to a Hearing Impairment.
  2.   “Intellectually Gifted” means a child whose intellectual abilities and potential for achievement are so outstanding the child’s educational performance is adversely affected. “Adverse affect” means the general curriculum alone is inadequate to appropriately meet the student’s educational needs.
  3.  “Mental Retardation” is characterized by significantly impaired intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
  4. “Multiple Disabilities” means concomitant impairments (such as Mental Retardation- Deafness, Mental Retardation-Orthopedic Impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated by addressing only one of the impairments. The term does not include Deaf-Blindness.
  5. “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), 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).
  6.  “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 Hyperactivity Disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette’s Syndrome that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

A child is “Other Health Impaired” who has chronic or acute health problems that require specially designed instruction due to:

  1.  Impaired organizational or work skills;
  2.  Inability to manage or complete tasks;
  3.  Excessive health related absenteeism; or
  4.   Medications that affect cognitive functioning.
  1.   “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 the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, and that adversely affect a child’s educational performance. Such term includes conditions such as visual processing (perceptual) disabilities, brain injury that is not caused by an external physical force, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific Learning Disability does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment, Orthopedic Impairment, Mental Retardation, Emotional Disturbance, limited English proficiency, or environmental or cultural disadvantage.
  2.  “Speech or Language Impairment” means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or voice impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

    Speech or Language Impairment includes demonstration of impairments in the following areas of language, articulation, voice, or fluency.

    1.  Language Impairment – A significant deficiency not consistent with the student’s chronological age in one or more of the following areas:
      1. A deficiency in receptive language skills to gain information;
      2. A deficiency in expressive language skills to communicate information;
      3. A deficiency in processing (auditory perception) skills to organize information.

        B.   Articulation Impairment – A significant deficiency in ability to produce sounds in conversational speech not consistent with chronological age.

        1.  Voice Impairment – An excess or significant deficiency in pitch, intensity, or quality resulting from pathological conditions or inappropriate use of the vocal mechanism.

        2. Fluency Impairment – Abnormal interruption in the flow of speech by repetitions or prolongations of a sound, syllable, or by avoidance and struggle behaviors.

    Speech or Language deficiencies identified cannot be attributed to characteristics of second language acquisition and/or dialectic differences.

  3. “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 to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Traumatic Brain Disorder may include all of the following:

  1.  An insult to the brain caused by an external force that may produce a diminished or altered state of consciousness; and
  2. The insult to the brain induces a partial or total functional disability and results in one or more of the following:

    I. Physical impairments such as, but not limited to:

    1.  Speech, vision, hearing, and other sensory impairments,
    2. Headaches,
    3.   Fatigue,
    4.   Lack of coordination,
    5.  Spasticity of muscles,
    6. Paralysis of one or both sides,

      II  Seizure disorder.

    1. Cognitive impairments such as, but not limited to:
      1. Attention or concentration,
      2.   Ability to initiate, organize, or complete tasks,
      3.   Ability to sequence, generalize, or plan,
      4.   Flexibility in thinking, reasoning or problem solving,
      5.   Abstract thinking,
      6.  Judgment or perception,
      7.   Long-term or short term memory, including confabulation,
      8.   Ability to acquire or retain new information,
      9.   Ability to process information/processing speed.
    2. Psychosocial impairments such as, but not limited to:

(i) Impaired ability to perceive, evaluate, or use social cues or context appropriately that affect peer or adult relationships,

  1.  Impaired ability to cope with over-stimulation environments and low

    frustration tolerance,

  2.  Mood swings or emotional lability,
  3.  Impaired ability to establish or maintain self-esteem,
  4.   Lack of awareness of deficits affecting performance,
  5.   Difficulties with emotional adjustment to injury (anxiety, depression, anger, withdrawal, egocentricity, or dependence),
  6. Impaired ability to demonstrate age-appropriate behavior,
  7.  Difficulty in relating to others,
  8.  Impaired self-control (verbal or physical aggression, impulsivity),
  9.   Inappropriate sexual behavior or disinhibition,
  10.  Restlessness, limited motivation and initiation,
  11. Intensification of pre-existing maladaptive behaviors or disabilities.

The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

(19) “Visual Impairment,” including blindness, means impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

Visual Impairment includes at least one of the following:

  1.  Visual acuity in the better eye or both eyes with best possible correction:
    1. Legal blindness – 20/200 or less at distance and/or near;
    2. Low vision – 20/50 or less at distance and/or near.
  2.   Visual field restriction with both eyes:
    1. Legal blindness – remaining visual field of 20 degrees or less;
    2. Low vision – remaining visual field of 60 degrees or less;
    3. Medical and educational documentation of progressive loss of vision, which may in the future affect the student’s ability to learn visually.
  3.  Other Visual Impairment, not perceptual in nature, resulting from a medically documented condition.