General Eligibility Requirements

This section provides general guidelines and requirements used in Nebraska to determine eligibility for special education services. Eligibility for special education services in Nebraska is based on the verification of the student's disability by a multidisciplinary team utilizing the procedures described in Lesson 3. In addition, the multidisciplinary team must show there is a need for special education and related services. Students must be identified in one of twelve categories which qualify for special education funding. It should be remembered that these rules apply to eligibility for special education funding. Criteria for funding may change depending on professional, social or political factors. Recently, two new classifications have been identified in Federal and Nebraska legislation (Traumatic Brain Injury and Autism). A third has been proposed at the Federal level (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Currently, many states provide special education serves to students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by classifying them eligible under the category of other health impaired. Table 4.1 shows both the Nebraska and the federal terminology currently used to classify and report on children with disabilities.

003.07A

Autism shall mean a developmental disability which significantly affects verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before the age of three, that adversely affects educational performance. Characteristics of autism include irregularities and impairments in communication, engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, unusual responses to sensory experiences, and impairments in the development of social relationships. The term does not include children with characteristics of the disability category "behavioral disorder."

See Rule 51, Section 006.04B for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07B

Behavioral disorders shall mean:

003.07B1

A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects the child's educational performance or, in the case of children below age five, development:

003.07B1(a)

An inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;

003.07B1(b)

An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;

003.07B1(c)

Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

003.07B1(d)

A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or

003.07B1(e)

A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

003.07B2

The term includes children with schizophrenia. The term does not include children with socially maladjustments, unless it is determined that they have behavioral disorders. This term parallels the federal definition of seriously emotionally disturbed.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04C for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07C

Deaf-blindness shall mean concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness and blindness.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04D for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07D

Hearing impairments shall mean a hearing impairment which is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, which adversely affects development or educational performance. Hearing Impairments shall also mean a hearing impairment, whether permanent or fluctuating, which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance. This term parallels the state and federal definitions of hearing impairments including deafness.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04E for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07E

Mental handicap shall mean significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04F for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07F

Multiple disabilities shall mean concomitant impairments (such as mental handicap-visually impairment, mental handicap-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe developmental or educational problems that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include children with deaf-blindness.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04G for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07G

Orthopedic impairments shall mean a severe orthopedic impairment which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease, and impairments from other causes.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04H for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07H

Other health impairments shall mean:

003.07H1

Having limited strength, vitality or alertness, due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes, which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance;

See Rule 51, Section 006.04I for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07I

Specific learning disability shall mean a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of mental handicaps; of behavioral disorders; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04J for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07J

Speech-language impairments shall mean a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04K for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07K

Traumatic brain injury shall mean an injury to the brain caused by an external physical force or by an internal occurrence such as stoke or aneurysm, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment that adversely affects educational performance. The term includes open or closed head injuries resulting in mild, moderate, or severe impairments in one or more areas, including cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem solving; sensory, perceptual and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not include brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04L for information on eligibility requirements.

003.07L

Visually impairment shall mean a visual impairment which, even with correction, adversely affects a child's development or educational performance. The term includes both partially seeing and blind.

See Rule 51, Section 006.04M for information on eligibility requirements.

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