Authority: IC 12-13-2-3; IC 12-13-5-3

Affected: IC 12-17-15

Sec. 1. (a) Children from birth through two (2) years of age shall be considered eligible to receive early intervention services if they are experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one (1) or more of the following areas:

1. (1) Cognitive development.
2. (2) Physical development, including vision and hearing.
3. (3) Communication development.
4. (4) Social or emotional development.
5. (5) Adaptive development.

(b) When using standardized assessments or criterion-referenced measures to determine eligibility, a developmental delay is defined as:

1. (1) a delay in one (1) or more areas of development as determined by:

   1. (A) two (2) standard deviations below the mean; or
   2. (B) twenty-five percent (25%) or more in function below the chronological age (adjusted for prematurity, if applicable) on an assessment instrument that yields scores in months; or

2. (2) a delay in two (2) or more areas of development as determined by:

   1. (A) one and one-half (11/2) standard deviation below the mean; or
   2. (B) twenty percent (20%) or more in function below the chronological age (adjusted for prematurity, if applicable) on an assessment instrument that yields scores in months.

(c) If, because of a child's age or the kind of standardized instruments available in specific domains, a standardized score is not appropriate or cannot be determined, a child may be determined to have a developmental delay by the informed clinical opinion of a multidisciplinary team, which includes the parent and documentation from the child's primary health care provider.

(d) When relying on informed clinical opinion, developmental delay may be determined by a consensus of a multidisciplinary team, including the parent, as a member, using multiple sources of information including, at a minimum, the following:

1. (1) A developmental history as currently reported by the parent or primary caregiver.

2. (2) A review of pertinent records related to the child's current health status and medical history. Consideration may be given for the following:

   1. (A) Functional status.
   2. (B) Recent rate of change.
   3. (C) Prognosis for change in the near future based on anticipated medical or health factors.
3. (3) At least one (1) other assessment procedure to document delayed development, such as observational assessment or planned observation of a child's behaviors and parent-child interaction, or documentation of delayed development by use of nonstandardized assessment devices, such as developmental checklists.

(Division of Family Resources; 470 IAC 3.1-7-1; filed Jan 29, 1996, 5:15 p.m.: 19 IR 1338; filed Mar 9, 1999, 2:05 p.m.: 22 IR 2259; readopted filed Jul 12, 2001, 1:40 p.m.: 24 IR 4235; filed Feb 16, 2006, 8:25 a.m.: 29 IR 2183; readopted filed Oct 24, 2007, 11:25 a.m.: 20071121-IR-470070448RFA; readopted filed Aug 23, 2013, 3:36 p.m.: 20130918-IR-470130306RFA; readopted filed Nov 13, 2019, 11:56 a.m.: 20191211-IR-470190490RFA; readopted filed Oct 8, 2025, 3:15 p.m.: 20251105-IR-470240501RFA)