55 Pa. Code § 4226.5 – Definitions.

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

Assessment—The ongoing procedures used throughout the period of a child’s eligibility under this chapter to identify the following:

(i) The child’s unique strengths and needs and the services appropriate to meet those needs.
(ii) The resources, priorities and concerns of the family and the supports and services necessary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the developmental needs of its child.
Assistive technology device—An item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of infants and toddlers with disabilities.
Assistive technology service—A service that directly assists an infant or toddler with a disability or the infant or toddler’s family in the selection, acquisition or use of an assistive technology device. The term includes:
(i) The evaluation of the needs of an infant or toddler with a disability, including a functional evaluation in the infant or toddler’s customary environment.
(ii) Purchasing, leasing or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by infants and toddlers with disabilities.
(iii) Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing or replacing assistive technology devices.
(iv) Coordinating and using other therapies, interventions or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs.
(v) Training or technical assistance for an infant or toddler with a disability or, if appropriate, that infant or toddler’s family.
(vi) Training or technical assistance for professionals, including individuals providing early intervention services, or other individuals who provide services to or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of infants and toddlers with disabilities.
At-risk child—An individual under 3 years of age:
(i) Whose birth weight is under 1,500 grams.
(ii) Who was cared for in a neonatal intensive care unit.
(iii) Who was born to a chemically dependent mother and referred by a physician, health care provider or parent.
(iv) Who is seriously abused or neglected, as substantiated and referred by the county children and youth agency under 23 Pa.C.S. Chapter 63 (relating to the Child Protective Services Law).
(v) Who has confirmed dangerous levels of lead poisoning as set by the Department of Health.
Audiology services—Includes the following:
(i) Identification of hearing loss, using audiological screening techniques.
(ii) Determination of the range, nature and degree of hearing loss and communication functions, by use of audiological evaluation procedures.
(iii) Referral for medical and other services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of hearing loss.
(iv) Provision of auditory training, aural rehabilitation, speech reading and listening device orientation and training, and other services to address hearing loss.
(v) Provision of services for prevention of hearing loss.
(vi) Determination of the need for individual amplification, including selecting, fitting and dispensing appropriate listening and vibrotactile devices, and evaluating the effectiveness of those devices.
Child—An individual under 3 years of age.
County MH/MR program—An MH/MR program established by a county or two or more counties acting in concert which includes a complex array of services providing a continuum of care in the community for infants and toddlers with disabilities and at-risk children.
Culturally competent—Conducted or provided in a manner that shows awareness of and is responsive to the beliefs, interpersonal styles, attitudes, language and behavior of children and families who are referred for or receiving services.
Department—The Department of Human Services of the Commonwealth.
Early intervention services—Developmental services that meet the requirements of this chapter and:
(i) Are provided under public supervision.
(ii) Are provided at no cost to families.
(iii) Are designed to meet the developmental needs of an infant or toddler with a disability and the needs of the family related to enhancing the infant or toddler’s development in one or more of the following areas:
1. (A) Physical development, including vision and hearing.
2. (B) Cognitive development.
3. (C) Communication development.
4. (D) Social or emotional development.
5. (E) Adaptive development.
(iv) Are provided in conformity with an IFSP.
(v) Include, but are not limited to, the following:
1. (A) Family training, counseling and home visits.
2. (B) Special instruction.
3. (C) Speech-language pathology services.
4. (D) Occupational therapy.
5. (E) Physical therapy.
6. (F) Psychological services.
7. (G) Service coordination.
8. (H) Medical services only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes.
9. (I) Early identification and assessment services.
10. (J) Health services necessary to enable an infant or toddler with a disability to benefit from other early intervention services.
11. (K) Social work services.
12. (L) Vision services.
13. (M) Assistive technology devices and assistive technology services.
14. (N) Transportation and related costs.
15. (O) Audiology services.
16. (P) Nursing services.
17. (Q) Nutrition services.
(vi) Are provided by qualified personnel, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. (A) Special educators.
2. (B) Speech-language pathologists.
3. (C) Occupational therapists.
4. (D) Physical therapists.
5. (E) Psychologists.
6. (F) Social workers.
7. (G) Nurses.
8. (H) Nutritionists.
9. (I) Family therapists.
10. (J) Orientation and mobility specialists.
11. (K) Pediatricians and other physicians.
12. (L) Early interventionists.
13. (M) Service coordinators.
14. (N) Audiologists.
  Evaluation—Procedures used by qualified personnel to determine a child’s initial and continuing eligibility for tracking or early intervention services.
  Family training, counseling and home visits—Services provided by social workers, psychologists or other qualified personnel, as appropriate, to assist the family of an infant or toddler with a disability in understanding the special needs of and enhancing the development of the infant or toddler.
  Health services—Services necessary to enable an infant or toddler with a disability to benefit from other early intervention services, while an infant or toddler is receiving another early intervention service.
15. (i) The term includes the following:
  1. (A) Clean intermittent catheterization, tracheostomy care, tube feeding, the changing of dressings or colostomy collection bags.
  2. (B) Consultation by physicians with other service providers concerning the special health care needs of an infant or toddler with a disability that will need to be addressed in the course of providing other early intervention services.
16. (ii) The term does not include the following:
  1. (A) Services that are surgical in nature (such as cleft palate surgery, surgery for club foot or the shunting of hydrocephalus).
  2. (B) Services that are purely medical in nature (such as hospitalization for management of congenital heart ailments, or the prescribing of medicine or drugs for any purpose).
  3. (C) Devices necessary to control or treat a medical condition.
  4. (D) Medical-health services (such as immunizations and regular ‘‘well-baby’’ care) that are routinely recommended for all children.
    IFSP—Individualized family service plan—A written plan for providing early intervention services to an infant or toddler with a disability and the infant or toddler’s family.
    Infant or toddler with a disability—An individual under 3 years of age who needs early intervention services because the individual meets one or more of the eligibility criteria specified in § 4226.22(a) (relating to eligibility for early intervention services).
    Location—The actual place or places where a service is or will be provided.
    MH/MR—Mental health/mental retardation.
    Medical services only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes—Services provided by a licensed physician to determine a child’s developmental status and need for early intervention services.
    Method—How a service is provided, including whether the service is given directly to the infant or toddler with a disability, with family or child care participation or without family or child care participation, or whether the service is provided as instruction to the family or caregiver.
    Multidisciplinary—Involving two or more disciplines or professions in the provision of integrated and coordinated services, including evaluation and assessment activities and development of the IFSP.
    Native language—The language or mode of communication normally used by the parent of a child. If the parent is deaf or blind, or has no written language, the mode of communication is that normally used by the parent (such as sign language, Braille or oral communication).
    Natural environments—Settings that are natural or normal for a child’s age peers who have no disabilities, including the home and community settings in which children without disabilities participate.
    Nursing services—Includes the following:
  5. (i) Assessing health status for the purpose of providing nursing care, including the identification of patterns of human response to actual or potential health problems.
  6. (ii) Providing nursing care to prevent health problems, restore or improve functioning, and promote optimal health and development.
  7. (iii) Administering medications, treatments and regimens prescribed by a licensed physician.
    Nutrition services—Includes the following:
  8. (i) Conducting individual assessments in the following:
    1. (A) Nutritional history and dietary intake.
    2. (B) Anthropometrical, biochemical and clinical variables.
    3. (C) Feeding skills and feeding problems.
    4. (D) Food habits and food preferences.
  9. (ii) Developing and monitoring appropriate plans to address the nutritional needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities, based on the findings of the assessments in subparagraph (i).
  10. (iii) Making referrals to appropriate community resources to carry out nutrition goals.
    Occupational therapy—Services to address the functional needs of an infant or toddler with a disability related to adaptive development, adaptive behavior and play, and sensory, motor and postural development, which are designed to improve the functional ability of the infant or toddler to perform tasks in home, school and community settings, and include the following:
  11. (i) Identification, assessment and intervention.
  12. (ii) Adaptation of the environment, and selection, design, and fabrication of assistive and orthotic devices to facilitate development and promote the acquisition of functional skills.
  13. (iii) Prevention or minimization of the impact of initial or future impairment, delay in development or loss of functional ability.
    Parent—A natural or adoptive parent; a guardian; a legal custodian, excluding a county children and youth agency; a person acting as a parent of a child (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the child lives); or a surrogate parent, including a foster parent, appointed under § 4226.96 (relating to surrogate parents).
    Personally identifiable information—Information that would make it possible to identify a particular child or family, including the following:
  14. (i) The name of the child, the child’s parent or other family member.
  15. (ii) The address of the child or family.
  16. (iii) A personal identifier, such as the child’s or parent’s Social Security number.
  17. (iv) A list of personal characteristics or other information that would make it possible to identify the child or family with reasonable certainty.
    Physical therapy—Services to address the promotion of sensorimotor function of an infant or toddler with a disability through enhancement of musculoskeletal status, neurobehavioral organization, perceptual and motor development, cardiopulmonary status and effective environmental adaptation, which include the following:
  18. (i) Screening, evaluation and assessment to identify movement dysfunction.
  19. (ii) Obtaining, interpreting and integrating information appropriate to program planning to prevent, alleviate or compensate for movement dysfunction and related functional problems.
  20. (iii) Providing individual and group services or treatment to prevent, alleviate or compensate for movement dysfunction and related functional problems.
    Psychological services—Includes the following:
  21. (i) Administering psychological and developmental tests and other assessment procedures.
  22. (ii) Interpreting assessment results.
  23. (iii) Obtaining, integrating and interpreting information about child behavior, and child and family conditions related to learning, mental health and development.
  24. (iv) Planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their parents, family counseling, consultation on child development, parent training and education programs.
    Qualified—Meeting State-approved or State-recognized certification, licensing, registration or other comparable requirements that apply to the area in which the person is providing early intervention services.
    Referral—Oral or written action by an individual to direct information about a child or the child’s family to another individual or entity, requesting that the receiving individual or entity take action on behalf of the child and family.
    Service coordination—Activities carried out by a service coordinator in accordance with § 4226.52 (relating to service coordination activities) to assist and enable a child and the child’s family to benefit from the rights and procedural safeguards and to receive the services that are authorized under this chapter.
    Social work—Includes the following:
  25. (i) Making home visits to evaluate the living conditions of an infant or toddler with a disability and patterns of parent-child interaction.
  26. (ii) Preparing a social or emotional developmental assessment of an infant or toddler with a disability within the family context.
  27. (iii) Providing individual and family or group counseling to the parent and other family members of an infant or toddler with a disability, and appropriate social skill-building activities to the infant or toddler and the infant or toddler’s parent.
  28. (iv) Working to address those problems in the living situation of an infant or toddler with a disability and the infant or toddler’s family (home, community, and any center where early intervention services are provided) that impede the maximum use of early intervention services.
  29. (v) Identifying, mobilizing and coordinating community resources and services to enable an infant or toddler with a disability and the infant or toddler’s family to receive maximum benefit from early intervention services.
    Special instruction—Includes the following:
  30. (i) Designing the learning environments and activities that promote the acquisition of skills by an infant or toddler with a disability in a variety of developmental areas, including cognitive processes and social interaction.
  31. (ii) Curriculum planning, including the planned interaction of personnel, materials and time and space, that leads to achieving the outcomes on the IFSP.
  32. (iii) Providing the family with information, skills and support related to enhancing the skill development of the infant or toddler with a disability.
  33. (iv) Working with the infant or toddler with a disability and family to enhance the infant or toddler’s development.
    Speech-language pathology services—Includes the following:
  34. (i) Identification of communicative or swallowing disorders and delays in development of communication skills, including the diagnosis and appraisal of specific disorders and delays in those skills.
  35. (ii) Referral for medical or other professional services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of communicative or swallowing disorders and delays in development of communication skills.
  36. (iii) Provision of services for the habilitation, rehabilitation or prevention of communicative or swallowing disorders and delays in development of communication skills.
    Tracking—A systematic process to monitor the development of at-risk children to determine whether they have become eligible for early intervention services under this chapter.
    Transportation and related costs—Includes the expenses incurred in travel (such as mileage or travel by taxi, common carrier or other means or tolls and parking expenses) that are necessary to enable an infant or toddler with a disability and the infant or toddler’s family to receive another early intervention service.
    Vision services—Includes the following:
  37. (i) Evaluation and assessment of visual functioning, including the diagnosis and appraisal of specific visual disorders, delays and abilities.
  38. (ii) Referral for medical or other professional services necessary for the habilitation or rehabilitation of visual functioning disorders.
  39. (iii) Communication skills training, orientation and mobility training for all environments, visual training, independent living skills training and additional training necessary to activate visual motor abilities.

Cross References

This section cited in 55 Pa. Code § 3270.4 (relating to definitions); 55 Pa. Code § 3280.4 (relating to definitions); and 55 Pa. Code § 3290.4 (relating to definitions).