Answer
Michigan
law has established specific criteria for children with disabilities.
Persons who have an educational disability meet a definition in the Michigan Special Education Rules
340.1705 to 340.1716. This disability
must affect school performance to the degree that special education programs or services are needed.
Michigan Rules more specifically define the following disabilities:
Autism - (AI) also know an Autism
Spectrum Disorder
Students with autism have a lifelong developmental disability recognized by disturbances in thinking, socializing, body movements, and language and speech development. These individuals may have difficulty relating to others. They insist on routine, are slow to develop communication patterns, have unusual responses to sensory stimuli, and exhibit stereotyped play patterns and repetitive movements. Rule 340.1715
Early Childhood Developmental Disability - (ECDD)
Children who have an early childhood developmental disability are three- through
seven-year-olds whose development is significantly delayed in one or more areas, and who do not qualify under any other special education impairment classification. Rule 340.1711
Emotional Impairment - (EI)
Students with emotional impairments demonstrate behavioral problems over an extended period of time that negatively affect their ability to learn. Rule 340.1706
Hearing Impairment - (HI)
Students who suffer any degree of hearing loss that interferes with learning may have a hearing impairment. These persons may also be referred to as hard-of-hearing or deaf. Rule 340.1707
Learning Disability - (LD)
Students with a learning disability are those with a severe discrepancy between their intellectual ability and their oral language and/or academic achievement. At times, they have social and behavioral problems, but their major problems are with learning in school. They experience difficulty with oral language, reading, writing and/or mathematics. Rule 340.1713
Mild Cognitive Impairment - (formerly EMI)
Students with mild mental impairments learn at a slower rate than other students. However, they are usually capable of learning academic skills, becoming vocationally trained, completing high school, and obtaining gainful employment.
Rule 340.1705
Moderate Cognitive Impairment -- (formerly TMI)
Students with significant intellectual impairment, for whom success at academic tasks is limited, are considered trainable mentally impaired. Classroom activities usually focus on daily living skills, health and safety, communication and prevocational training.
Rule 340.1705
Otherwise Health Impairment - (OHI)
Students with health impairment have chronic or acute non-orthopedic challenges which affect their ability to learn and may require special
accommodations to succeed. Rule 340.1709a
Physical Impairment - (PI)
Students with a physical (orthopedic) impairment have physical challenges which affect their ability to learn and may require special materials or equipment. Rule 340.1709
Rule 340.1709a
Severe Cognitive Impairment - (formerly SMI)
Students with severe intellectual impairments, who need training in basic self-help skills (e.g., feeding, toileting, daily living activities and related basic functional skills), are considered severely mentally impaired. Rule
340.1705
Severe Multiple Impairment - (SXI)
Students with multiple impairments have more than one handicap in both intellectual and functional abilities. They require an intensive staff/student ratio and unique educational activities. Rule 340.1714
Speech & Language Impairment - (SLI)
Students unable to understand or use language may have speech or language impairments. This type of handicap may interfere with learning or social adjustment in school. These students may be recognized by a number of symptoms (including poor listening skills, unclear speech, slow vocabulary development, immaturities in grammar, difficulties conversing with others, unusual loudness or quality of voice or stuttering). Rule 340.1710
Traumatic Brain Injury - (TBI)
Students with an acquired
injury to the brain by an external physical
force resulting in a functional and/or
social impairment in one or multiple areas
that adversely affect educational
impairment. Rule 340.1716
Visual Impairment - (VI)
Students who have problems seeing, whether partially sighted or blind, are often referred to as having a visual impairment which interferes with development or which may affect their learning. Among the characteristics are visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye, after correction, or a peripheral field of vision restricted to not more than 20 degrees. Rule 340.1708
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