IDEA Disability Categories in Ohio

What disability categories qualify for an IEP in Ohio?

Ohio recognizes 13 disability categories for special education eligibility, as defined in OAC 3301-51-01 and applied through the evaluation process under OAC 3301-51-06. A 'child with a disability' means a child evaluated in accordance with OAC 3301-51-06 as having one of the following: (1) Autism, (2) Deaf-blindness, (3) Developmental delay (for children ages 3-9 only), (4) Hearing impairment (including deafness), (5) Intellectual disability, (6) Multiple disabilities, (7) Orthopedic impairment, (8) Other health impairment (OHI), (9) Serious emotional disturbance (SED) -- Ohio uses 'serious emotional disturbance' rather than the federal term 'emotional disturbance', (10) Specific learning disability (SLD), (11) Speech or language impairment, (12) Traumatic brain injury (TBI), and (13) Visual impairment (including blindness) (OAC 3301-51-01(B)(10)). Each category has specific evaluation criteria defined in the Operating Standards and OAC 3301-51-06. The developmental delay category is available only for children between ages three and nine and requires documented delays in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development (OAC 3301-51-01). Ohio aligns closely with the 13 federal IDEA categories but uses the term 'serious emotional disturbance' (SED) rather than 'emotional disturbance' (ED), and 'intellectual disability' (replacing the earlier 'mental retardation'). For students identified as having a 'pervasive developmental disorder -- not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS),' Ohio considers them as autistic for purposes of the Autism Scholarship Program (ORC 3310.41). Districts must ensure that all assessments and evaluations used to determine the presence of a disability are nondiscriminatory, technically sound, and administered by qualified personnel (OAC 3301-51-06(B)(2)).