Video Transcript - 6 Principles of IDEA: Eligibility
Children may be diagnosed with a disability by a medical provider, however, being diagnosed with a disability is not a guarantee of services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Having an identified educational disability is the first question when determining if a student qualifies. The evaluation team must also answer two additional questions:
- Does the disability adversely impact the child’s educational progress? AND
- Does the child need specially designed instruction?
Children need to meet IDEA’s definition of a “child with a disability.” There are 14 categories; each with its own criteria. See links below for more details on each of these categories.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Deaf Blindness
- Developmental Delay
- Hearing Impairment, Including Deafness
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment (OHI)
- Emotional Disturbance
- Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
- Speech or Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Visual Impairment including Blindness
- Infant/Toddler with a Disability
There’s often confusion around dyslexia, ADHD, and autism. Let’s discuss these beginning with dyslexia and ADHD.
These are medical conditions diagnosed by a doctor or other expert that often interfere with learning and attention. However, if you look at the list of 14 categories, you will see that they are not listed. So what are you to do?
An educational evaluation is needed to determine if the student meets the criteria for any of the 14 categories. Specific Learning Disability (SLD) and Other Health Impairment (OHI) are the most common categories.
So the student is now eligible right? Not exactly. Remember that disability alone doesn’t determine eligibility for special education services.
There are two other considerations:
- Does the disability adversely impact the child’s educational progress?
- Does the child need specially designed instruction?
Autism is especially confusing because the same name applies for both a medical diagnosis and one of 14 categories. Keep in mind that an autism diagnosis does not automatically qualify for special education services.
Just like Dyslexia and ADHD, an educational evaluation is needed to determine if the student meets the criteria for IDEA’s autism category. And once again those two additional requirements must be met:
- Does the disability adversely impact the child’s educational progress?
- Does the child need specially designed instruction?
