Eligibility Decisions
Upon completion of the FIIE, the ARD committee must determine whether:
- The child is a child with a disability; and
- By reason of the disability, the child needs special education and related services.
The MDT makes recommendations about eligibility in the FIIE. Only the ARD committee has authority to make eligibility decisions.
Texas state laws have expanded the required members of the MDT and any subsequent team convened to determine a student’s eligibility for special education and related services when dyslexia is a suspected disability to include at least one member with specific knowledge of the reading process, dyslexia and related disorders, and dyslexia instruction.
The member must:
1. Hold a licensed dyslexia therapist (LDT) license under Chapter 403, Occupations Code;
2. Hold the most advanced dyslexia-related certification issued by an association recognized by the SBOE; or
3. If neither of these is available, the member must meet the training requirements adopted by the SBOE. Understanding the limitations of availability of the individuals who meet the credentials of items (1) and (2) above, an LEA may identify another individual to serve in this role who, within one calendar year from the date of being designated as such member, must:
- register and complete the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA’s) Texas Dyslexia Academies (TDAs);
- register and complete the TEA’s Guidance for the Comprehensive Evaluation of a Specific Learning Disability training; and
- document that the member has training in current research and evidence-based assessments that are used to identify the most common characteristics of dyslexia.
When TEA updates the required trainings above, the member must complete those updated trainings within one calendar year from the date the revised training was made available.
Timeline for Initial ARD Committee Meeting
The ARD committee must make its decisions regarding the child's initial eligibility determination and, if appropriate, IEP and placement within 30 calendar days from the date of the completion of the written FIIE report unless one of the following situations applies:
- If the 30th calendar day falls during the summer and school is not in session, the ARD committee must meet not later than the 15th school day of the following school year. If an evaluation report indicates that a student would need extended school year (ESY) services, however, the ARD committee must meet as expeditiously as possible.; or
- If the LEA received the written consent for the evaluation from the parent at least 35 but fewer than 45 school days before the last instructional day of the school year and the child was not absent from school three or more days between the time that the LEA received written consent and the last instructional day of the school year, the ARD committee must meet not later than the 15th school day of the following school year, unless the initial evaluation indicates that the child will need extended school year services during that summer.
Need for Special Education and Related Services
An initial evaluation or reevaluation provides valuable information to assist the ARD committee in making decisions about the need for special education and related services, and, if needed, what services are needed. After the eligibility decision is made, the ARD committee develops a description of the student’s PLAAFP. The PLAAFP must describe the impact of the student’s disability on his or her access and progress in the general curriculum. Initially this information is found in the initial evaluation or reevaluation. There is baseline data that describes the student’s academic skills and functional skills. Academic skills should be compared to what is expected in the student’s enrolled grade-level curriculum. Annual goals can be written from baseline data. Then goals can be progressed monitored using data school staff and parents can understand. There is data in the evaluation report that provides the rationale for any needed accommodations and modifications. The evaluation provides recommended evidence-based interventions that align with the student’s needs.
If a child has one of the 13 disabilities identified in Texas, but only needs RELATED SERVICES and not special education services, the child is not a child with a disability under the IDEA.
NOTE
Parents have access rights which are the general right to inspect and review any education records for their child. When the parent requests access to the education records, the LEA must comply without UNECESSARY DELAY.
Tip for Working with Families:
- When providing a copy of the FIIE to the parent, verbally review the report with them through a conference.
- Ensure the parent has an opportunity for meaningful input in the ARD process. Explain to the parent that the determination of eligibility is one of the first decisions made with the parent’s input.
Disability Categories Under IDEA
Thirteen Disabilities Identified Under IDEA
In Texas, there are 13 different disability categories under which children ages 3 through 21 may be eligible for special education services. Children who are DHH, DB, or have VI may be eligible to receive services from their LEA at birth.
Who decides if a child is eligible for special education and related services?
In Texas, the ARD committee makes the eligibility determination and decides the eligibility category. To determine if a child is eligible for special education and related services under one of the 13 disability categories, an individualized evaluation, or assessment, of the child must be conducted. This evaluation is the FULL INDIVIDUAL AND INITIAL EVALUATION.
There is a two-part test for determining whether a child is eligible for special education and related services.
To meet the first part of the two-part test for eligibility, a child must meet the criteria for one or more of the disability conditions defined below:
Please review TAC §89.1040(c) for the complete eligibility definitions.
1. Autism (AU)
A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social
interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are:
- engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements
- resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines and;
- unusual responses to sensory experiences.
A determination of whether a student meets the criteria for autism cannot require that the student
meets the requirements for a medical/psychological diagnosis of autism. The absence of other characteristics often associated with autism does not exclude a student from meeting eligibility as a student with autism. The team's written report of evaluation must include specific recommendations for communication, social interaction, and positive behavioral interventions and strategies.
Autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disability.
A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria above are satisfied.
2. Deaf-Blindness (DB)
Having both hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe
communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in
special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
A student with deaf-blindness is one who:
- meets the eligibility criteria for deaf or hard of hearing and visual impairment.
- meets the eligibility criteria for a visual impairment and has a suspected hearing loss that cannot be demonstrated conclusively, but a speech/language therapist, a certified speech and language therapist, or a licensed speech language pathologist indicates there is no speech at an age when speech would normally be expected;
- has documented hearing and visual losses that, if considered individually, may not meet the requirements for deaf or hard of hearing or visual impairment, but the combination of such losses adversely affects the student's educational performance; or
- has a documented medical diagnosis of a progressive medical condition that will result in concomitant hearing and visual losses that, without the provision of special education services, will adversely affect the student's educational performance.
3. Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH)
Is defined as meeting the criteria of deafness or hearing impairment:
- Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
- Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance, but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.
The evaluation data reviewed by the MDT to determine a student's eligibility for being deaf or hard of hearing must include an audiological evaluation performed by a licensed audiologist and a communication assessment completed by the MDT. The evaluation data must include a description of the implications of the hearing loss for the student's hearing in a variety of circumstances with or without recommended hearing assistive technology.
A child under three years of age meets the criteria for deaf or hard of hearing if the student's record indicates that the child is experiencing a developmental delay because of hearing loss or impairment, or the child has a physical or mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay and a sensory impairment.
4. Developmental Delay (DD)
A student with developmental delay is one who is between the ages of 3-9 who is evaluated by a MDT for at least one disability category of the twelve disability categories and whose evaluation data indicates a need for special education and related services and shows evidence of, but does not clearly confirm, the presence of the suspected disability or disabilities due to the child's young age.
In these cases, an ARD committee may determine that data supports identification of developmental delay in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development. To use this eligibility category, multiple sources of data must converge to indicate the student has a developmental delay as described by one of the following:
- performance on appropriate norm-referenced measures, including developmental measures, indicate that the student is at least 2 standard deviations below the mean or at the 2nd percentile of performance, when taking into account the standard error of measurement (SEM), in one area of development as listed in the previous paragraph, along with additional convergent evidence such as interviews and observation data that supports the delay in that area;
- performance on appropriate norm-referenced measures, including developmental measures, indicate that the student is at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean or at the 7th percentile of performance, when taking into account the SEM, in at least two areas of development as listed previously, along with additional convergent evidence such as interviews and observation data that supports the delays in those areas; or
- a body of evidence from multiple direct and indirect sources, such as play-based assessments, information from the student's parent, interviews, observations, work samples, checklists, and other informal and formal measures of development, that clearly document a history and pattern of atypical development that is significantly impeding the student's performance and progress across settings when compared to age-appropriate expectations and developmental milestones in one or more areas of development as listed previously.
NOTE
Developmental Delay was added to TAC §89.1040 (13) in Summer of 2024. No school district will be required to use the eligibility category of developmental delay; however, if a district chooses to use this eligibility category, it must use the definition and criteria described above. If a school district chooses to use the eligibility category of developmental delay, it may do so beginning with the 2024-2025 school year.
5. Emotional Disability (ED)
A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
- An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors
- An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers
- Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
- A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
- A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems
Emotional disability does not apply to a child who is socially maladjusted unless the child also meets the criteria for having an emotional disturbance. Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia.
NOTE
The written report of evaluation for emotional disability must include specific recommendations for positive behavioral supports and interventions. The term emotional disability is synonymous with the term emotional disturbance and serious emotional disturbance, as these terms are used in federal or state law pertaining to students eligible for special education and related services.
6. Intellectual Disability (ID)
A student with an intellectual disability is one who:
- has been determined to have significantly sub-average intellectual functioning as measured by a standardized, individually administered test of cognitive ability in which the overall test score is at least two standard deviations below the mean, when taking into consideration the SEM of the test;
and - concurrently exhibits deficits in at least two of the following areas of adaptive behavior: communication, self-care, home living, social/interpersonal skills, use of community resources, self-direction, functional academic skills, work, leisure, health, and safety.
7. Multiple Disabilities (MD)
Means two or more impairments occurring at the same time (such as intellectual disability-blindness or intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment) and are expected to continue indefinitely. The combination causes such severe educational needs that it cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments.
- A student with multiple disabilities is one who has a combination of disabilities defined in this section and who meets all of the following conditions:
- the student's disabilities are expected to continue indefinitely; and
- the disabilities severely impair performance in two or more of the following areas:
- psychomotor skills;
- self-care skills;
- communication;
- social and emotional development; or
- cognition.
- Students who have more than one of the disabilities defined in this section but who do not meet the criteria of a student with multiple disabilities, must not be classified or reported as having multiple disabilities.
- Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
* Noncategorical Early Childhood (NCEC)
A student between the ages of 3 through 5 who is evaluated as having an intellectual disability, an emotional disability, a specific learning disability, or autism may be described as noncategorical early childhood (NCEC).
NOTE
The eligibility category of NCEC may be used until the 2025-2026 school year. Any eligible student who begins the 2025-2026 school year already identified as noncategorical may maintain this eligibility category, if determined appropriate by the student's ARD committee, until the required re-evaluation before the age of six.
8. Orthopedic Impairment (OI)
Means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, fractures or burns that cause contractures).
A student's eligibility based on an orthopedic impairment must include a medical diagnosis provided by a licensed physician.
9. Other Health Impairment (OHI)
Means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that –
is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and
adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
A student's eligibility based on other health impairment must include identification or confirmation of the student’s chronic or acute health problem provided by a licensed physician, a physician assistant, or an advanced practice registered nurse with authority delegated under Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 157.
NOTE
- Evidence that a child has a medical diagnosis alone does not mean the child meets the criteria for special education. Texas regulations have expanded the required members of the MDT to include an advanced practice registered nurse in addition to a licensed physician or a physician assistant.
- Medical conditions must meet the criteria of “impairing vitality, strength or alertness” at school causing the need for specially designed instruction to access the curriculum.
- The ARD committee, not a student’s medical provider, makes the determination as to whether the student is eligible for special education and related services (although information from a medical provider is required for this eligibility category).
10. Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken, or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and related disorders, and developmental aphasia. The IDEA recognizes eight areas in which a student may qualify with an SLD. These eight areas include: listening comprehension, oral expression, basic reading skill, reading fluency, reading comprehension, written expression, mathematics calculation, and mathematics problem solving. These are not specific conditions, rather they describe areas where the student does not achieve adequately for his or her age or meet state-approved grade level standards.
Disorders not included - The term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, an intellectual disability, an emotional disability, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. For more information, please review the Dear Colleague Letter from October 2015.
Disorders included - Students identified as having dyslexia or related disorders may be identified through IDEA under the SLD category. TEC §29.0031 states dyslexia is an example of and meets the definition of a SLD under IDEA. This is in conformity with IDEA’s federal regulations at 34 CFR §300.8(c) (10), which specifically lists dyslexia as an example of an SLD. For more information see the TEA Dyslexia and Related Disorders webpage and The Dyslexia Handbook.
NOTE
Evaluation for dyslexia is a single pathway for identification under the IDEA. This means that anytime the LEA suspects that the student has dyslexia or related disorders and may need specially designed instruction, the LEA must seek parental consent to evaluate under the IDEA.
11. Speech Impairment (SI)
Means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
The MDT that collects or reviews evaluation data in connection with the determination of a student's eligibility based on a speech impairment must include a certified speech and hearing therapist, a certified speech and language therapist, or a licensed speech language pathologist.
12. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
A student's eligibility based on a traumatic brain injury must include a medical diagnosis provided by a licensed physician.
NOTE
- The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as 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 apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
13. Visual Impairment (VI) Including Blindness
Means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
In Texas, children served within the category of DHH or VI (including DB) are eligible to receive services from birth.
