The team shall determine that a pupil is eligible and in
need of special education and related services if the pupil meets the criterion
in item A and the criteria in items B and C as documented by the information
gathered according to item D:
A. There
is documentation by a physician of a medically verified traumatic brain
injury.
B. There is a functional
impairment attributable to the traumatic brain injury that adversely affects
educational performance in one or more of the following areas:
intellectual-cognitive, academic, communication, motor, sensory,
social-emotional-behavioral, and functional skills-adaptive behavior. Examples
of functional impairments which may adversely affect educational performance
are:
(1) intellectual-cognitive, for example,
impaired:
(a) attention or
concentration;
(b) ability to
initiate, organize, or complete tasks;
(c) ability to sequence, generalize, or
plan;
(d) insight/consequential
thinking;
(e) flexibility in
thinking, reasoning, or problem-solving;
(g) judgment or perception;
(h) long-term or short-term memory;
(i) ability to acquire or retain new
information;
(j) ability to process
information;
(2)
academic, for example:
(a) marked decline in
achievement from preinjury levels;
(b) impaired ability to acquire basic skills
(reading, written language, mathematics);
(c) normal sequence of skill acquisition
which has been interrupted by the trauma as related to chronological and
developmental age;
(3)
communication, for example:
(a) impaired
ability to initiate, maintain, restructure, or terminate
conversation;
(b) impaired ability
to respond to verbal communication in a timely, accurate or efficient
manner;
(c) impaired ability to
communicate in distracting or stressful environments;
(d) impaired ability to use language
appropriately (requesting information, predicting, analyzing, or using
humor);
(e) impaired ability to use
appropriate syntax;
(f) impaired
abstract or figurative language;
(g) perseverative speech (repetition of
words, phrases, or topics);
(h)
impaired ability to understand verbal information;
(i) impaired ability to discriminate relevant
from irrelevant information;
(j)
impaired voice production/articulation (intensity, pitch, quality, apraxia, or
dysarthia);
(4) motor,
for example, impaired:
(a) mobility (balance,
strength, muscle tone, or equilibrium);
(b) fine or gross motor skills;
(c) speed of processing or motor response
time;
(d) sensory, for example,
impaired;
(5) sensory,
for example, impaired:
(a) vision (tracking,
blind spots, visual field cuts, blurred vision, or double vision);
(b) hearing (tinnitus, noise sensitivity, or
hearing loss);
(6)
social-emotional-behavioral, for example:
(a)
impaired ability to initiate or sustain appropriate peer or adult
relationships;
(b) impaired ability
to perceive, evaluate, or use social cues or context appropriately;
(c) impaired ability to cope with
over-stimulating environments, low frustration tolerance;
(d) mood swings or emotional
ability;
(e) impaired ability to
establish or maintain self-esteem;
(f) denial of deficits affecting
performance;
(g) poor emotional
adjustment to injury (depression, anger, withdrawal, or dependence);
(h) impaired ability to demonstrate
age-appropriate behavior;
(i)
impaired self-control (verbal or physical aggression, impulsivity, or
disinhibition);
(j) intensification
of preexistent maladaptive behaviors or disabilities;
(7) functional skills-adaptive behavior, for
example, impaired:
(a) ability to perform
developmentally appropriate daily living skills in school, home, leisure, or
community setting (hygiene, toileting, dressing, eating);
(b) ability to transfer skills from one
setting to another;
(c) orientation
(places, time, situations);
(d)
ability to find rooms, buildings, or locations in a familiar
environment;
(e) ability to respond
to environmental cues (bells, signs);
(f) ability to follow a routine;
(g) ability to accept change in an
established routine;
(h) stamina
that results in chronic fatigue.
C. The functional impairments are not
primarily the result of previously existing:
(1) visual, hearing, or motor
impairments;
(2) emotional or
behavioral disorders;
(3)
developmental disabilities;
(4)
language or specific learning disabilities;
(5) environmental or economic
disadvantage;
(6) cultural
differences.
D.
Information/data to document a functional impairment in one or more of the
areas in item B must, at a minimum, include one source from Group One and one
source from Group Two:
(1) GROUP ONE:
(b) classroom or work samples;
(c) educational/medical history;
(d) documented, systematic behavioral
observations;
(e) interviews with
parents, student, and other knowledgeable individuals;
(2) GROUP TWO:
(a) criterion-referenced measures;
(b) personality or projective
measures;
(c) sociometric
measures;
(d) standardized
assessment measures; (academic, cognitive, communication, neuropsychological,
or motor).
