AUTISM - A developmental disability that significantly affects verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction generally evident before age three that adversely affects educational performance.
 

DEAF-BLINDNESS - A combination of both hearing and visual impairments causing severe communication and other developmental and educational needs.
 

DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY - A  delay  that adversely affects daily life and/or educational performance in one or more of the following developmental areas and may identify a child for this area of the disability on his or her third birthday:

• Adaptive development
• Cognitive development
• Communication development
• Social and emotional development
• Physical development
   

EMOTIONAL DISABILITY - A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics are exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree, adversely affecting educational performance:

• An inability to learn which 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.
   

HEARING IMPAIRMENT - An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both deaf and hard of hearing.
 

INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY- Significantly sub average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with significant limitations in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects the child's educational performance.
 

MULTIPLE DISABILITIES - The combination of impairments such as intellectual disability and blindness or intellectual disability and orthopedic impairment which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple Disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.      
  

ORTHOPEDIC IMPAIRMENT - A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
If a medical diagnosis is presented, the medical diagnosis alone is not enough to justify being identified in the area of orthopedic impairment.
      

OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRED      Limited strength, vitality or alertness including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment which is due to chronic or acute health problems. The impairment must adversely affect educational performance.
 

SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY - 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 the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations.
 

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT - A communication disorder in the area of articulation, voice, language, or fluency, which adversely affects a child's educational performance.
 

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY - 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 educational performance.
 

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT - A visual impairment that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance.
 

PRESCHOOL SPECIAL EDUCATION - Children between the ages of three and six with any of the previously mentioned disabilities may qualify for preschool special education services.
 

GIFTED - Children who perform at high levels in academic or creative fields when compared with others their age may qualify for gifted services.  Morgan County Schools LEA Plan for Gifted 2023