2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHTEEN - Education (§§ 1 — 3510-3520) › PART III - Educational Activities Generally (§§ 861-866 — 1597b) › Chapter 87A - Integral Educational Services for Persons with Disabilities (§§ 1351 — 1359) › § 1351 - Definitions

The following terms and phrases shall have the meaning stated below for the purposes of this chapter:
(1) Reasonable accommodation. — Modification or adjustment to the educational or work process or scenario which allows the person with disabilities to participate and perform in that environment.
(2) Least restrictive environment. — Placement which propitiates [sic] that the person with disabilities be educated among persons without disabilities. When the conditions or the needs of the person do not allow it, even with the use of assistance and supplementary services, he/she shall be entitled to an appropriate placing according to the continuance of service and the regulations in effect.
(3) Technological assistance. — All indispensable equipment and services to be used by persons with disabilities in order to increase, maintain or improve their functional capabilities, including interpreters, note takers and readers, when recommended in the individualized services program.
(4) Initial screening. — Process used to identify the persons that require evaluation to determine the presence of a disability or retardation in development.
(5) Department. — The Department of Education, including the Educational Reform Institute.
(6) Diagnosis. — Process through which, on the basis of the results of the pertinent tests and evaluations, the special needs of the person with disabilities are established.
(7) Special education. — Free public education especially designed to respond to the particular needs of a person with disabilities, in the least restrictive environment.
(8) Multidisciplinary team. — Team formed by professionals duly qualified in various disciplines who shall be in charge of the evaluation, planning and implementation of services, with the participation, during the entire process, of the parents and even the person with disabilities, if his/her participation were pertinent.
(9) Evaluation. — Administration and interpretation of the tests or instruments administered by personnel qualified and certified in their discipline used to determine the needs of the persons with disabilities.
(10) Disability. — Any physical, mental or emotional condition that limits or interferes with the development and learning capacity of the person.
(11) Parent. — Refers to the father, mother, tutor, legal guardian and/or person in charge.
(12) Person with disabilities. — Infants, children, youths and adults through 21 years of age, who have been diagnosed with one or several of the following conditions: mental retardation; hearing impairments including deafness; speech or language problems; visual impairments including blindness; severe emotional disorders; orthopedic problems; autism; deaf-blindness [sic]; brain damage caused by trauma; other health conditions; specific learning problems; multiple disabilities and who, because of their disabilities, require special education and related services. It also includes developmental retardation in infants from birth through the age of two.
(13) Individualized Family Services Plan (PISF, Spanish acronym). — A written plan based on a multidisciplinary evaluation of children and their families to provide early intervention services for eligible children with disabilities under three years of age and their families, that is developed jointly with the families and appropriate qualified personnel involved in rendering early intervention services.
(14) Individualized Educational Program (PEI, Spanish acronym). — A written document for each person with disabilities, especially designed to respond to his/her specific educational needs, based on evaluations conducted by a multidisciplinary team, and with the participation of the parents of said person, and when pertinent, with the person him/herself.
(15) Individualized Written Rehabilitation Program (PIER, Spanish acronym). — A written document which specifies the services to the eligible person, prepared by the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration and carried out jointly, through an agreement, signed by the eligible person or his/her parent, vocational rehabilitation counselor or coordinator, pursuant to state and federal regulations.
(16) Registration. — Mechanism through which the names and basic information of the persons requesting special education services are registered continuously.
(17) Office of the Secretary. — The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Integral Educational Services for Persons with Disabilities.
(18) Assistant Secretary. — The Secretary of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Integral Educational Services for Persons with Disabilities.
(19) Secretary. — The Secretary of the Department of Education.
(20) Early intervention services. — Those services specially designed to respond to the development needs of the infant from birth through the age of two and those of his/her family, to promote the development of the former.
(21) Integral services. — Educational and related services furnished in a coordinated manner that are compatible with certain common goals and objectives inferred from the individualized services program.
(22) Education related services. — Indispensable health and support services that are required in order for the person with disabilities to benefit from the special education so that he/she may develop his/her potential to the maximum.
(23) Transition. — Process to facilitate the adaptation or integration of the person with disabilities to a new environment, from the stages of early intervention stage to the preschool stage to the school stage to the employment world and to independent life or to post secondary education.
History —June 7, 1996, No. 51, § 2; Mar. 18, 2008, No. 30, § 1.