The terms used to establish eligibility criteria are defined as follows:

1. (1) Autism.

   1. (A) “Autism” means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three (3), that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

   2. (B) Other characteristics often associated with autism are:

      1. (i) Engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements;
      2. (ii) Resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines; and
      3. (iii) Unusual responses to sensory experiences.

   3. (C)

      1. (i) Autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in 34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)(4) and at subdivision (3) of this section.
      2. (ii) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three (3) could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria in this part are satisfied;
2. (2) Deaf-blindness. “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 solely for children with deafness or children with blindness;

3. (3) Emotional disturbance.

   1. (A) “Emotional disturbance” means a condition exhibiting one (1) or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

      1. (i) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;
      2. (ii) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;
      3. (iii) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;
      4. (iv) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or
      5. (v) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
   2. (B) The term includes schizophrenia.
   3. (C) The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance under subdivision (3)(A) of this section and 34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)(4);

4. (4) Hearing impairment including deafness.

   1. (A) “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 educational performance.
   2. (B) “Hearing impairment” means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.

   3. (C) Audiological indicators.

      1. (i)

         1. (a) (a) An average pure-tone hearing loss in the speech range (five hundred to two thousand hertz (500 – 2,000 Hz)) of twenty decibels (20 dB) or greater in the better ear.
         2. (b) (b) A child with a fluctuating hearing impairment, such as one resulting from chronic otitis media, is classified as hearing impaired.

      2. (ii) An average high frequency, pure-tone hearing loss of thirty-five decibels (35 dB) or greater in the better ear at two (2) or more of the following frequencies:

         1. (a) (a) Two thousand hertz (2,000 Hz);
         2. (b) (b) Three thousand hertz (3,000 Hz);
      3. (c) (c) Four thousand hertz (4,000 Hz); and
      4. (d) (d) Six thousand hertz (6,000 Hz).
      5. (iii) A permanent unilateral hearing loss of thirty-five decibels (35 dB) or greater in the speech range (pure-tone average of five hundred to two thousand hertz (500 – 2,000 Hz)).
      6. (iv) A diagnosis of auditory neuropathy;
5. (5) Intellectual disability. “Intellectual disability” means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance;

6. (6) Multiple disabilities.

   1. (A) “Multiple disabilities” means concomitant impairments (such as intellectual disability-blindness, intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one (1) of the impairments.
   2. (B) “Multiple disabilities” does not include deaf-blindness;

7. (7) Orthopedic impairment.

   1. (A) “Orthopedic impairment” means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

   2. (B) The term includes impairments:

      1. (i) Caused by congenital anomaly;
      2. (ii) Caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis); and
      3. (iii) From other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures);

8. (8) Other health impairment. “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:

   1. (A) Is due to chronic or acute health problems such as:

      1. (i) Asthma;
      2. (ii) Attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder;
      3. (iii) Diabetes;
      4. (iv) Epilepsy;
      5. (v) A heart condition;
      6. (vi) Hemophilia;
      7. (vii) Lead poisoning;
      8. (viii) Leukemia;
      9. (ix) Nephritis;
      10. (x) Rheumatic fever;
      11. (xi) Sickle cell anemia; and
      12. (xii) Tourette syndrome; and
   2. (B) Adversely affects a child’s educational performance;

9. (9) Specific learning disability.

   1. (A) General. The term means a disorder in one (1) 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 to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as:

      1. (i) Perceptual disabilities;
      2. (ii) Brain injury;
      3. (iii) Minimal brain dysfunction;
      4. (iv) Dyslexia; and
      5. (v) Developmental aphasia.

   2. (B) Disorders not included. “Specific learning disability” does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of:

      1. (i) Visual, hearing, or motor disabilities;
      2. (ii) Intellectual disability;
      3. (iii) Emotional disturbance; or
      4. (iv) Environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage;
10. (10) Speech or language impairment. “Speech or language impairment” means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance;

11. (11) Traumatic brain injury.

    1. (A) “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.

    2. (B) “Traumatic brain injury” applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one (1) or more areas, such as:

       1. (i) Cognition;
       2. (ii) Language;
       3. (iii) Memory;
       4. (iv) Attention;
       5. (v) Reasoning;
       6. (vi) Abstract thinking;
       7. (vii) Judgment;
       8. (viii) Problem-solving;
       9. (ix) Sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities;
       10. (x) Psychosocial behavior;
       11. (xi) Physical functions;
       12. (xii) Information processing; and
       13. (xiii) Speech.

    3. (C) “Traumatic brain injury” does not apply to brain injuries:

       1. (i) That are congenital or degenerative; or
       2. (ii) Induced by birth trauma; and

12. (12) Visual impairment.

    1. (A)

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

    2. (B)

       1. (i) Students with partial sight are those whose vision, although impaired, is still the primary channel of learning and, with adjustments, are able to perform the visual tasks required in the usual school situation.
       2. (ii) Generally, their visual acuity with correction is 20/70 or less.
    3. (C) Students with blindness are those with no vision or with little potential for developing vision as a primary channel for learning and, therefore, must rely upon tactile and auditory sense to obtain information.