Alabama Administrative Code › Title 290 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Chapter 290-8-9 - SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES › Section 290-8-9-.03 - Disability Definitions, Criteria, And Minimum Required Evaluative Components

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
Each public agency must develop and implement procedures to
				identify and evaluate children suspected of having a disability that adversely
				affects their educational performance and who, as a result, may need special
				education (specially designed instruction) and related services. The
				evaluations listed in this rule are the required minimum evaluations to be
				administered prior to determining initial eligibility for special education
				services. Professional judgment should be used to determine if the results of
				any of the required evaluations are reliable sources of information or if other
				assessment data may prove to be more accurate indicators of the child's level
				of functioning. The IEP Team may determine, on a case-by-case basis, that other
				evaluations are needed. Vision and hearing screenings (traditional or
				functional, as appropriate) must be the first evaluations conducted for all
				children suspected of having a disability, unless otherwise indicated.
(1)
Autism
.
(a) Definition. Autism means a developmental
			 disability that significantly affects verbal and nonverbal communication and
			 social interaction generally evident before age three (3) that adversely
			 affects educational performance. This includes other pervasive developmental
			 disorders. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in
			 repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental
			 change or changes in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory
			 experiences. Autism does not apply if a child's educational performance is
			 adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as
			 defined in these rules. A child who manifests the characteristics of autism
			 after age three (3) could be identified as having autism if the criteria herein
			 are satisfied.
(b) Criteria.
1. Evidence that vision/hearing screening
			 results are satisfactory prior to proceeding with evaluations.
2. Score on a rating scale (normed for the
			 appropriate diagnostic group) indicating the presence of an autism spectrum
			 disorder.
3. Medical, clinical,
			 psychiatric, or school psychologist evaluation, or an assessment by a qualified
			 person (e.g., psychometrist) trained in the area of autism
			 evaluation.
4. Evidence that
			 communication/language skills and/or social skills adversely affect educational
			 performance.
5. Evidence of current
			 characteristics/behaviors typical of an autism spectrum disorder.
(c) Minimum Evaluative Components.
1. Vision/hearing screening.
2. A normed rating scale that is used to
			 document the presence of an autism spectrum disorder.
3. Comprehensive evaluation and report to be
			 completed by a medical, clinical psychiatric, and/or school psychologist or
			 other qualified person (i.e., psychometrist) trained in the area of autism
			 evaluation.
4.
			 Communication/language evaluation and a behavior rating scale and/or an
			 adaptive behavior rating scale. Additional performance measures may include
			 developmental, intellectual, achievement (individual or group), motor,
			 criterion-referenced tests, curriculum-based assessments, work samples,
			 portfolios, observation.
5.
			 Observation in both a structured and an unstructured school environment or
			 natural setting and a structured interview with the parent/primary caregiver
			 for all students in Grades K-12. An observation in a natural setting and a
			 structured interview with the parents/primary caregiver for all preschool aged
			 children.