§ 300.8 Child with a disability.

Plain English summary

This section defines 'child with a disability' for purposes of IDEA eligibility, requiring that a child be evaluated under §§ 300.304–300.311 and determined to have one of thirteen specified disability categories, and that by reason of that disability the child needs special education and related services. It also allows states to extend eligibility to children aged three through nine experiencing developmental delays. Detailed definitions are provided for each of the thirteen disability categories recognized under this part.

Key requirements

• Child with a disability means a child evaluated in accordance with §§ 300.304 through 300.311 as having an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.
• If it is determined, through an appropriate evaluation under §§ 300.304 through 300.311, that a child has one of the disabilities identified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, but only needs a related service and not special education, the child is not a child with a disability under this part.
• If, consistent with § 300.39(a)(2), the related service required by the child is considered special education rather than a related service under State standards, the child would be determined to be a child with a disability under paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
• Child with a disability for children aged three through nine (or any subset of that age range, including ages three through five), may, subject to the conditions described in § 300.111(b), include a child who is experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: Physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development; and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.
• Autism does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance.
• A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section are satisfied.
• Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance under paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section.
• Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
• Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
• Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Affected parties

• children with disabilities
• parents
• local educational agencies (LEAs)
• state educational agencies (SEAs)
• IEP teams
• evaluators and assessment personnel
• special education administrators

Official source

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-300/section-300.8