Whenever used in sections 10-76a to 10-76i, inclusive:

1. (1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Education.
2. (2) “Child” means any person twenty-two years of age or younger or, for children requiring special education, until such child is graduated from high school or at the end of the school year during which such child reaches age twenty-two, whichever occurs first.
3. (3) An “exceptional child” means a child who deviates either intellectually, physically or emotionally so markedly from normally expected growth and development patterns that he or she is or will be unable to progress effectively in a regular school program and needs a special class, special instruction or special services.
4. (4) “Special education” means specially designed instruction developed in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner, subject to approval by the State Board of Education offered at no cost to parents or guardians, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings and instruction in physical education and special classes, programs or services, including related services, designed to meet the educational needs of exceptional children.
5. (5) “A child requiring special education” means any exceptional child who (A) meets the criteria for eligibility for special education pursuant to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1400, et seq., as amended from time to time, (B) has extraordinary learning ability or outstanding talent in the creative arts, the development of which requires programs or services beyond the level of those ordinarily provided in regular school programs but which may be provided through special education as part of the public school program, or (C) is age three to five, inclusive, and is experiencing developmental delay that causes such child to require special education.

6. (6) “Developmental delay” means significant delay in one or more of the following areas:

   1. (A) Physical development; (B) communication development; (C) cognitive development; (D) social or emotional development; or (E) adaptive development, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures and demonstrated by scores obtained on an appropriate norm-referenced standardized diagnostic instrument.
7. (7) “Related services” means related services, as defined in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1400 et seq., as amended from time to time.
8. (8) “Extraordinary learning ability” and “outstanding creative talent” shall be defined by regulation by the commissioner, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, after consideration by said commissioner of the opinions of appropriate specialists and of the normal range of ability and rate of progress of children in the Connecticut public schools.

See Sec. 10-184a re exemption of local or regional boards of education or State Board of Education from providing special education for children being educated at home or in private school.

(1967, P.A. 627, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 793, S. 1; P.A. 75-567, S. 60, 80; P.A. 77-587, S. 7, 9; 77-614, S. 302, 610; P.A. 78-218, S. 59–61; 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 79-35, S. 1; P.A. 80-136, S. 1, 2; 80-185, S. 1, 2; P.A. 85-613, S. 94, 154; P.A. 91-277, S. 1, 6; P.A. 92-262, S. 9, 42; P.A. 96-146, S. 1, 12; 96-161, S. 8, 13; P.A. 98-168, S. 1, 26; P.A. 00-48, S. 2, 12; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 2; P.A. 22-80, S. 31; P.A. 23-137, S. 36.)

History: 1969 act made technical changes to Subsec. (f); P.A. 75-567 substituted Sec. “10-76j” for “10-76g”, broadening applicability of definitions; P.A. 77-587 changed definitions in Subsec. (f), deleting exclusion of children who require custodial care, who do not have clean bodily habits, responsiveness to directions or means of intelligible communication from definition of “mentally retarded child”, redefining “trainable” mentally retarded child by replacing description of such child as one who can walk, has clean bodily habits and is responsive to simple direction with description of child as one who can be expected to function at a level greater than that of a four-year-old and added definition of “severely or profoundly” mentally retarded child; P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of the state board of education, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-218 made technical changes; P.A. 79-35 deleted definitions of “educable”, “trainable” and “severely or profoundly” mentally retarded child in Subsec. (f); P.A. 80-136 inserted a new Subsec. (j) defining child with “identifiable learning disability”, deleted “learning disabilities” from former Subsec. (j) and redesignated the subsection as Subsec. (k); P.A. 80-185 redefined “special education” to include related services, defined “related services” in new Subsec. (h) and relettered former Subsec. (h) and remaining subsections accordingly; P.A. 85-613 made technical changes, deleting reference to Sec. 10-94a; P.A. 91-277 redefined “children requiring special education” to include autistic and traumatically brain injured children; P.A. 92-262 redefined “special education”, added counseling services to the definition of “related services” and added definition of “transition services”; P.A. 96-146 changed the Subdiv. designations from letters to numbers, added a definition of “seriously emotionally disturbed”, deleted a definition of “socially and emotionally maladjusted”, amended Subdiv. (6) to define “child with mental retardation” based on the federal law and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 96-161 amended introductory language re applicability to omit reference to Sec. 10-76j, repealed by the same act, effective July 1, 1996; P.A. 98-168 added Subdiv. (5)(C) re children age 3 to 5, inclusive, and new Subdiv. (6) defining “developmental delay”, renumbering the remaining Subdivs. and redefined “identifiable learning disability” to exclude certain learning problems, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 00-48 amended Subdiv. (9) to replace the existing definition of “related services” with the federal definition under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, effective July 1, 2000; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subdiv. (5) by redefining “children requiring special education” as “a child requiring special education”, making technical and conforming changes re federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, deleted Subdivs. (7) and (8) defining “child with mental retardation” and “child with a physical handicap”, renumbered Subdiv. (9) as Subdiv. (7), deleted Subdivs. (10) to (13), inclusive, defining “child with a neurological impairment”, “seriously emotionally disturbed”, “school age children” and “identifiable learning disability”, renumbered Subdiv. (14) as Subdiv. (8) and deleted Subdiv. (15) defining “transition services”, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 22-80 amended Subdiv. (2) by redefining “child” as any person under 22 years of age, effective July 1, 2022; P.A. 23-137 redefined “child”, effective July 1, 2023.