Verification Guidelines for Children with Disabilities

1. Verification Guidelines for Children with Disabilities Technical Assistance Document Nebraska Department of Education Special Education Office September 2008

2. Introduction • Purpose of TA Guide • Provide Assistance to MDT • Determine if child needs special education • History of Development of Guide • Organization of Guide • Thirteen Major Sections: One for Each Disability Category • Each Section Divided into Eight Components

3. Multidisciplinary Evaluation Teams and Reporting of Diagnostic Data (92-NAC 51.006) • Child Find • Student Assistance Team • Evaluation and Other Assessment Materials • Multidisciplinary Team Requirements • MDT Written Report • Children Who Do Not Qualify

4. Mental Handicap • Introduction • Three Part Eligibility Requirement • Meet verification criteria (92 NAC 51.006) • Documentation: Adverse Effect on Educational Performance • Determination: Need for Special Education Services

5. Mental Handicap (cont’d) • State Definition • Significantly sub average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child’s educational or in the case of a child below age five, a child’s developmental performance.

6. Mental Handicap (cont’d) • Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team Composition • Verification Guidelines At least 2.0 standard deviations below the mean (30 standard score points) in adaptive behavior across settings (school, home, community) based on assessment in the three component areas of adaptive behavior, academic achievement, and intellectual functioning.

7. Mental Handicap (cont’d) • Procedures to Determine Adverse Effect on Educational Performance: • Factors to Consider • History of delays, of interventions and response to interventions, of medical history. • Current performance • Postsecondary transition needs • Review questions provided in verification guidelines (pp. 99-100)

8. Mental Handicap (cont’d) • Related Definitions • Frequently Asked Questions • References and Resources

9. For Additional Information Special Education Office Nebraska Department of Education Telephone: 402-471-2471 Web Address: www.neb.state.ne.us/SPED/sped/html