Categories For Special Education - Which One Fits My Child?

Have special education personnel stated that your child was ineligible for special education, because they do not fit into one of the 13 eligible categories? Does your child have Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) but you were told by school personnel that this does not fit into the 13 eligible categories? Has your child been diagnosed as emotionally disturbed and you believe the child has autism? This article will discuss how you can determine what category of classification that your child can receive special education services under. By knowing these categories you can advocate for the one that meets your child's needs.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) states that every child with a disability must receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Also special education services to meet their unique needs. Labels or classifications do not determine, if a particular child is eligible for a particular special education service, though sometimes special education personnel act like it does.

Categories:

1. Autism: If you suspect that your child has autism ask special education personnel to give him or her, a childhood autism rating scale (CARS). The scale is done by the parent answering 13 questions about their child, and a knowledgeable person giving a score to the scale. The higher the number the more chance that the child has autism. If the scale is positive take your child to a specialized Pediatrician that specializes in autism.

Pervasive developmental disorder is on the Autism spectrum. Autism is one of the eligible categories for special education services. So a child with PDD is eligible for special education services under the category of autism.

2. OHI: For a child to be eligible under this category usually requires some type of documentation from the child's physician. Many children with ADD and ADHD receive special education services under this category.

3. Mental Retardation: Determined by IQ score; a child's IQ score under 75 is considered to be in the mental retardation range. Be careful if your child's IQ is normal and decreases as they grow older, this is indicative of an inappropriate education, not necessarily mental retardation.

4. Emotional Disturbance (ED): Many children with autism are being given an ED label-Why? Because in my opinion special education personnel are reluctant to give a child an autism label due to cost of special education services. For a child to truly be ED, they must have no other disability!

5. Deafness: This is a total loss of hearing and usually requires physician documentation.

6. Hearing Impairment: Not a total loss of hearing as above!

7. Visual Impairment: Severe impairment not fixed by glasses or contacts.

8. Deaf-Blindness: Total loss of hearing and total loss of sight.

9. Specific Learning Disability (LD): Children with reading difficulty despite appropriate instruction, math difficulty despite appropriate instruction, dyslexia, visual processing disorder, sensory integration disorder (SID), auditory processing disorder, all qualify under LD.

10. Multiple Disabilities. Must include another disability and also mental retardation.

11. Orthopedic Impairment: A child with Cerebral Palsy would qualify under this category.

12. Speech or Language Impairment. Includes delayed speech, communication disorder, language disorder such as dyslexia, receptive and expressive language disorder etc.

13. Traumatic Brain Injury: Any injury to the brain either at birth or when the child was older.

By understanding the 13 categories and what is required for each one, you will be able to be an informed advocate for your child. Children who need special education services and do not get them may have their lives ruined forever!

JoAnn Collins is the mother of two adults with disabilities, and has helped families navigate the special education system, as an advocate, for over 15 years. She is a presenter and author of the book "Disability Deception; Lies Disability Educators Tell and How Parents Can Beat Them at Their Own Game." The book has a lot of resources and information to help parents fight for an appropriate education for their child. For a free E newsletter entitled "The Special Education Spotlight" send an E mail to: JoAnn@disabilitydeception.com. For more information on the book, testimonials about the book, and a link to more articles go to: http://www.disabilitydeception.com

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3 Ways to Use the 13 Disability Categories to Benefit Your Child With a Disability!

Are you the parent of a child with a disability that has been unable to convince special education personnel that your child needs special education services? Did you read my number 1 article; What are the 13 Categories of Disability for Special Education Eligibility, and wonder how you could use this information to benefit your child? This article is for you, because I will be discussing 3 ways for you as a parent to use the 13 disability categories, to benefit your child.

#1 Way: Bring the eligibility category list to your child's eligibility meeting. Use this list to advocate that your child's disability is one of the covered 13 disabilities in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004). For Example: Schools are reluctant to recognize Specific Learning Disabilities and provide correct remediation, so knowing the definition of Specific Learning Disability (Exhibits a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes-such as visual, motor language etc-which negatively affects a child's education) can help you advocate for this disability category. Once your child is identified as LD you can investigate what the research based method is to re-mediate your child's learning disability, and advocate for these services for your child.

#2 Way: Use the list to advocate for an appropriate disability category for your child. In order to determine appropriate services and remediation that a child needs, the child's disabilities must be appropriately determined.For Example: Many school personnel want to state that children with Autism actually should be categorized as Emotionally Disturbed (ED). While the disability category is not supposed to determine services, in reality it often does; and children with ED categories are often denied educational services. In this example use the definition of ED from my article "... an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors" to advocate that your child has other issues that are affecting their ability to learn, so therefore your child cannot be labeled Emotionally Disturbed. Many children with Autism have issues related to the Autism, Sensory Integration issues, expressive and receptive speech difficulties, and Learning Disabilities that may explain their difficulty with learning. This leaves out ED as a disability category, because the child has other issues that are causing the difficulty with learning.

#3 Way: Use the category list to educate yourself about the category of OHI: The child exhibits limited strength, alertness, due to chronic or acute health problems, including but not limited to asthma, ADD/ADHD, etc, which negatively affects your child's education.

Be careful about allowing your school district to use this category if your child has ADD or ADHD, and may have learning disabilities. Some school districts may be offering OHI as a compromise when parents believe that their child may have Learning Disabilities. The school district may then refuse to give the child educational services, that they may need. OHI is not a compromise for a specific learning disability category, in my opinion. Children with Learning Disabilities need appropriate remediation which can only be given if the child's Learning Disabilities are recognized by special education personnel.

By educating yourself about the 13 Disability categories you can increase your child's chance of being found eligible for special education services, and also increase their chances of being found eligible under the appropriate disability category. It will also increase your child's chances of receiving an appropriate education! Keep fighting for your child, they are depending on you.

JoAnn Collins is a successful special educational advocate for over 20 years and author of the book "Disability Deception; Lies Disability Educators Tell and How Parents Can Beat Them at Their Own Game!" The book is filled with truths about special education, for parents, and lots of easy to use advocacy tips. Check out her blog at: http://specialeducationspotlight.disabilitydeception.com. For more information on the book and special education as well as testimonials on her book, please go to: http://www.disabilitydeception.com. For questions or comments feel free to E mail me at: JoAnn@disabilitydeception.com.

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