17 Legislation and Educational Resources (USA)

Federal regulations and special education eligibility

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) is the law in the United States that provides rights and protections to youth with disabilities and governs how infants to individuals up to 21 years old receive early intervention, special education, and related services. Per the IDEA’s Section 300.8 Child with a disability (c) (13) (2004), the eligibility category of “[v]isual impairment 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.”

The US Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSEP) provides further guidance in the OSEP 17-50 memorandum titled “Eligibility Determinations for Children Suspected of Having a Visual Impairment Including Blindness under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” (Ryder, 2017).

State regulations and special education eligibility

Check your state’s regulations for eligibility criteria as they may differ. States may adopt the same language for the eligibility category of visual impairment as in IDEA. For example, California’s regulations for eligibility under the category of visual impairment are the same as the federal regulations; “[v]isual impairment 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” (5 C.C.R. § 3030(b)(13)).

States may provide additional clarification on who qualifies or does not qualify under the eligibility category of visual impairment. For instance, per the California Department of Education’s (CDE) Guidelines for Programs Serving Students with Visual Impairments, 2014 Revised Edition,

The definition of students with visual impairments includes students with neurological visual impairments who are functionally blind or who have low vision, even with best correction. This qualifies them to receive services from a teacher of students with visual impairment…

A visual impairment does not include visual perceptual or visual motor dysfunction resulting solely from a learning disability; students who have visual perceptual or visual motor dysfunction resulting solely from a learning disability do not meet the eligibility criteria for “visual impairment” or “low incidence disability” and are therefore not eligible for vision services or low incidence funding for specialized support services, books, materials, and equipment available to a student with a low incidence disability. (CDE, 2014. p. 7)

Different states may apply different regulations. For example, the Texas Administrative Code provides additional specifics for eligibility under visual impairment:

(12) Visual impairment.

(A) A student with a visual impairment is one who has been determined to meet the criteria for visual impairment as stated in 34 CFR, §300.8(c)(13). Information from a variety of sources must be considered by the multidisciplinary team that collects or reviews evaluation data in connection with the determination of a student’s eligibility based on visual impairment in order to determine the need for specially designed instruction as stated in 34 CFR, §300.39 (b)(3), and must include:

(i) a medical report by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist that indicates the visual loss stated in exact measures of visual field and corrected visual acuity, at a distance and at near range, in each eye. If exact measures cannot be obtained, the eye specialist must so state and provide best estimates. The report should also include a diagnosis and prognosis whenever possible and whether the student has:

(I) no vision or visual loss after correction; or

(II) a progressive medical condition that will result in no vision or a visual loss after correction;

(ii) a functional vision evaluation by a certified teacher of students with visual impairments or a certified orientation and mobility specialist. The evaluation must include the performance of tasks in a variety of environments requiring the use of both near and distance vision and recommendations concerning the need for a clinical low vision evaluation;

(iii) a learning media assessment by a certified teacher of students with visual impairments. The learning media assessment must include recommendations concerning which specific visual, tactual, and/or auditory learning media are appropriate for the student and whether or not there is a need for ongoing evaluation in this area; and

(iv) as part of the full individual and initial evaluation, an orientation and mobility evaluation conducted by a person who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist. The evaluation must be conducted in a variety of lighting conditions and in a variety of settings, including in the student’s home, school, and community, and in settings unfamiliar to the student.

(B) A person who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist must participate in any reevaluation as part of the multidisciplinary team, in accordance with 34 CFR, §§300.122 and 300.303-300.311, in evaluating data used to make the determination of the student’s need for specially designed instruction.

(C) A person who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist must participate, as part of a multidisciplinary team, in accordance with 34 CFR, §§300.122 and 300.303-300.311, in evaluating data used in making the determination of the student’s eligibility as a student with a visual impairment” (19 T.A.C. §89.1040 (12)).

As noted above, some states require a medical report while others do not. If a medical diagnosis is required for eligibility determinations, the public educational agency must cover the cost to obtain the medical diagnosis and cannot use the medical diagnosis as the only factor in deciding whether the student meets special education eligibility requirements.