Description of Disabilities
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| Disability | Description | ||
| Autism | A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally before age 3 | ||
| Deafness | A hearing impairment so severe that a child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification | ||
| Emotional Disturbance | A condition exhibiting one or
more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to
a marked degree: a. the inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors b. an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers or teachers c. inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances d. a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression e. a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. f. schizophrenia is included in this term |
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| Hearing impairment | an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but not included under the definition of "deafness" | ||
| Mental Retardation | significantly below-average intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period. | ||
| Orthopedic impairment | The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (clubfoot or absence of a limb), impairment caused by disease (poliomyelitis or bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (cerebral palsy, amputations or fractures or burns that cause contractures). | ||
| Other health impairments | Having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, due to chronic or acute health problems. The term includes a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes, Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. | ||
| Specific learning disabilities | A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. This term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. | ||
| Speech or language impairment | A communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment | ||
| Traumatic brain injury | An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment. | ||
| Tourette Syndrom | A neurological disorder that included repetitive, stereotyped involuntary movements or tics. The average age of onset is 7-10 years. | ||
| Visual impairment (including blindness) | A visual impairment that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both children with partial sight and those who are completely blind. |
Source: Berger, E. H., "Parents as Partners in Education (7th Ed.)" Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2008
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