| (a) Special education and related services. To be eligible
to receive special education and related services, a student must
be a "child with a disability," as defined in 34 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), §300.8(a), subject to the provisions of 34 CFR, §300.8(c),
the Texas Education Code (TEC), Subchapter A, and this section. The
provisions in this section specify criteria to be used in determining
whether a student's condition meets one or more of the definitions
in federal regulations or in state law.
(b) Eligibility determination. The determination of
whether a student is eligible for special education and related services
is made by the student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.
Any evaluation or re-evaluation of a student must be conducted in
accordance with 34 CFR, §§300.301-300.306 and 300.122. The
multidisciplinary team that collects or reviews evaluation data in
connection with the determination of a student's eligibility must
include, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) a licensed specialist in school psychology (LSSP)/school
psychologist, an educational diagnostician, or other appropriately
certified or licensed practitioner with experience and training in
the area of the disability; or
(2) a licensed or certified professional for a specific
eligibility category defined in subsection (c) of this section.
(c) Eligibility definitions.
(1) Autism. A student with autism is one who has been
determined to meet the criteria for autism as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(1).
A determination of whether a student meets the criteria for autism
as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(1), cannot require that the student
meets the requirements for a medical/psychological diagnosis of autism.
The absence of other characteristics often associated with autism
listed in 34 CFR, 300.8(c)(1), does not exclude a student from meeting
eligibility as a student with autism. The team's written report of
evaluation must include specific recommendations for communication,
social interaction, and positive behavioral interventions and strategies.
(2) Deaf-blindness. A student with deaf-blindness is
one who has been determined to meet the criteria for deaf-blindness
as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(2). In meeting the criteria stated
in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(2), a student with deaf-blindness is one
who, based on the evaluations specified in subsection (c)(3) and (12)
of this section:
(A) meets the eligibility criteria for a student who
is deaf or hard of hearing specified in subsection (c)(3) of this
section and visual impairment specified in subsection (c)(12) of this
section;
(B) meets the eligibility criteria for a student with
a visual impairment and has a suspected hearing loss that cannot be
demonstrated conclusively, but a speech/language therapist, a certified
speech and language therapist, or a licensed speech language pathologist
indicates there is no speech at an age when speech would normally
be expected;
(C) has documented hearing and visual losses that,
if considered individually, may not meet the requirements for a student
who is deaf or hard of hearing or for visual impairment, but the combination
of such losses adversely affects the student's educational performance;
or
(D) has a documented medical diagnosis of a progressive
medical condition that will result in concomitant hearing and visual
losses that, without the provision of special education services,
will adversely affect the student's educational performance.
(3) Deaf or hard of hearing.
(A) A student who is deaf or hard of hearing is one
who has been determined to meet the criteria for deafness as stated
in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(3), or for students who have a hearing impairment
as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(5). The evaluation data reviewed
by the multidisciplinary team in connection with the determination
of a student's eligibility based on being deaf or hard of hearing
must include an audiological evaluation performed by a licensed audiologist
and a communication assessment completed by the multidisciplinary
team. The evaluation data must include a description of the implications
of the hearing loss for the student's hearing in a variety of circumstances
with or without recommended hearing assistive technology.
(B) A child under three years of age meets the criteria
for deaf or hard of hearing if the student's record indicates that
the child is experiencing a developmental delay because of hearing
loss or impairment, or the child has a physical or mental condition
that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay
and a sensory impairment, in accordance with 34 CFR, §303.21.
(4) Emotional disability. A student with an emotional
disability is one who has been determined to meet the criteria for
emotional disturbance as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(4). The
written report of evaluation must include specific recommendations
for positive behavioral supports and interventions. The term emotional
disability is synonymous with the term emotional disturbance and serious
emotional disturbance, as these terms are used in federal or state
law pertaining to students eligible for special education and related
services.
(5) Intellectual disability. A student with an intellectual
disability is one who has been determined to meet the criteria for
an intellectual disability as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(6).
In meeting the criteria stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(6), a student
with an intellectual disability is one who:
(A) has been determined to have significantly sub-average
intellectual functioning as measured by a standardized, individually
administered test of cognitive ability in which the overall test score
is at least two standard deviations below the mean, when taking into
consideration the standard error of measurement of the test; and
(B) concurrently exhibits deficits in at least two
of the following areas of adaptive behavior: communication, self-care,
home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources,
self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health,
and safety.
(6) Multiple disabilities.
(A) A student with multiple disabilities is one who
has been determined to meet the criteria for multiple disabilities
as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(7). In meeting the criteria stated
in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(7), that a combination of impairments causes
such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in
special education programs solely for one of the impairments, a student
with multiple disabilities is one who has a combination of disabilities
defined in this section and who meets all of the following conditions:
(i) the student's disabilities are expected to continue
indefinitely; and
(ii) the disabilities severely impair performance in
two or more of the following areas:
(I) psychomotor skills;
(II) self-care skills;
(III) communication;
(IV) social and emotional development; or
(V) cognition.
(B) Students who have more than one of the disabilities
defined in this section but who do not meet the criteria in subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph must not be classified or reported as having
multiple disabilities.
(C) Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
(7) Orthopedic impairment. A student with an orthopedic
impairment is one who has been determined to meet the criteria for
orthopedic impairment as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(8). A student's
eligibility based on an orthopedic impairment must include a medical
diagnosis provided by a licensed physician.
(8) Other health impairment. A student with other health
impairment is one who has been determined to meet the criteria for
other health impairment due to chronic or acute health problems such
as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead
poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia,
and Tourette's Disorder as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(9). A
student's eligibility based on other health impairment must include
identification or confirmation of the student's chronic or acute health
problem provided by a licensed physician, a physician assistant, or
an advanced practice registered nurse with authority delegated under
Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 157.
(9) Specific learning disability.
(A) 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, that may manifest itself
in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell,
or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual
disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and
developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability does not include
learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing,
or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disability;
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