V.I. Code tit. 17, § 282 (2019)
2019 US Virgin Islands Code|Title 17 - Education|Chapter 24 - Education of the Disabled|§ 282. Definitions

 (a)  (1) “Child with a disability” means a child evaluated in accordance with § 287 of this chapter and 34 CFR §§ 300.304 through 300.311 as having [an] intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance, referred to in this chapter as “emotional disturbance”, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, any other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services. (A) The terms used in this definition of “a child with a disability” are defined as follows: (i) “Autism” means 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. (1) The term “autism” does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in paragraph (a)(1)(A)(iv) of this section. (2) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (a)(1)(A)(i) of this section are satisfied. (ii) “Deaf-blindness” means concomitant 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. (iii) “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. (iv) “Emotional Disturbance” means 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. Symptoms include: (A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors. (B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers. (C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances. (D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. (E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. (v) “Emotional disturbance” includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance as defined in this section. (vi) “Hearing Impairment” means 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. (vii) “Intellectual Disability” means 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 performance. (viii) “Multiple disabilities” means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness or mental retardation-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities do not include deaf-blindness. (ix) “Orthopedic impairment” means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by diseases such as poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, and impairments from other causes such as cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures. (x) “Other health impairment” 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— (A) 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 (B) Adversely affects a child's educational performance (xi)  (A) “Specific learning disability” means 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 the 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 developmental aphasia. (B) The term “specific learning disability” does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage (xii) “Speech or language impairment” means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. (xiii) “Traumatic brain injury” 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. The terms “traumatic brain injury” 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. (xiv) “Visual 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. (2)  (A) Subject to paragraph (a)(2)(B) of this section, if it is determined, through an appropriate evaluation under 34 CFR §§ 300.304 through 300.11, that a child has one of the disabilities identified in paragraph (1) of this section but only needs a related service and not special education, the child is not a child with a disability under this chapter. (B) If, consistent with 34 CFR § 300.309(a)(2), the related service required by the child is considered special education rather than a related service under territorial standards, the child would be determined to be a child with a disability under paragraph (1) of this section. (b) Child with a disability for children aged three through seven may, subject to the conditions described in 34 CFR § 300.111(b), include a child— (1) Who is experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the Territory and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development; and (2) Who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services” (c) “Special education” means (1) specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of the child with disabilities, in a continuum of placement options, including, without limitation: classroom instruction, itinerant instruction, resource room, partial inclusion, full inclusion, separate class setting, separate school, home instruction, or instruction in a hospital or other institutional setting; (2) speech pathology, or any related services specially designed to meet the unique needs of the child; and (3) career and technical education specially designed to meet the unique needs of the child. (d) “Related services” as used in this act, includes without limitation transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a disabled child to benefit from special education, and includes speech pathology and audiology, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, counseling services, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. The term also includes school health services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training. The terms used within this definition are defined as follows: (1) “Audiology” includes: (A) Identification of children with hearing loss; (B) Determination of the range, nature, and degree of hearing loss, including referral for medical or other professional attention for the habilitation of hearing; (C) Provision of habilitative activity such as language habilitation, auditory training, speech reading (lip-reading), hearing evaluation, and speech conservation; (D) Creation and administration of programs for prevention of hearing loss; (E) Counseling and guidance of pupils, parents, and teachers regarding hearing loss; and (F) Determination of the child's need for group and individual amplification, selecting and fitting an appropriate aid, and evaluating the effectiveness of amplification. (2) “Counseling services” means services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors, or other qualified personnel. (3) “Early intervention” means the implementation of a formal plan for identifying a disability as early as possible in a child's life. (4) “Medical services” means services provided by a licensed physician to determine a child's medically related disabled condition which results in the child's need for special education and related services. (5) “Occupational therapy” includes: (A) Improving, developing or restoring functions impaired or lost through illness, injury, or deprivation; (B) Improving ability to perform tasks for independent functioning when functions are impaired or lost; and (C) Preventing, through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of function. (6) “Parent counseling and training” means assisting parents in understanding the special needs of their child and providing parents with information about child development. (7) “Physical therapy” means services provided by a qualified physical therapist. (8) “Psychological services” include: (A) Administering psychological and educational tests, and other assessment procedures; (B) Interpreting assessment results; (C) Obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about child behavior and conditions relating to learning; (D) Consulting with other staff members in planning school programs to meet the special needs of children as indicated by psychological tests, interviews, and behavioral evaluations; and (E) Planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for children and parents. (9) “Recreation” includes: (A) Assessment of leisure function; (B) Therapeutic recreation services; (C) Recreation programs in schools and community agencies; and (D) Leisure education. (10) “School health services” means services provided by a qualified school nurse or other qualified person. (11) “Social work services in schools” includes: (A) Preparing a social or developmental history on a disabled child; (B) Group and individual counseling with the child and family; (C) Working with those problems in a child's living situation (home, school, and community) that affect the child's adjustment in school; and (D) Mobilizing school and community resources to enable the child to receive his or her educational program. (12) “Speech pathology” includes: (A) Identification of children with speech or language disorders; (B) Diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language disorders; (C) Referral for medical or other professional attention necessary for the habilitation of speech or language disorders; (D) Provisions of speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of communicative disorders; and (E) Counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language disorders. (13) “Transportation” includes: (A) Travel to and from school and between schools; (B) Travel in and around school buildings; and (C) Specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a disabled child. (e) “Special educational facility” means a school or any portion thereof, remedial or supplemental facility or any other building or structure or part thereof intended for use in meeting the educational, corrective, and related needs of children with disabilities. (f) “Developmental delay” means a child aged three through seven who is experiencing developmental delays measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: (A) Physical development; (B) Cognitive development; (C) Communication development; (D) Social or emotional development; (E) Adaptive development; and (F) Who by reason thereof, needs special education and related services (g) “IDEA” means the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. (h) “Parent” means a biological or adoptive parent, a guardian authorized to act as the child's parent or otherwise authorized to make educational decisions for the child, including a foster parent, unless otherwise prohibited by valid court order, or a surrogate parent duly appointed under the regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (hereinafter “IDEA”) or local rules.