Bill Text: NY A07536 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the definition of a student with a disability.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to education [A07536 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A07536-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7536 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the definition of a student with a disability The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 4401 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 378 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 1. A "child with a disability" or "student with a disability" means a 5 person under the age of twenty-one who is entitled to attend public 6 schools pursuant to section thirty-two hundred two of this chapter and 7 who, because of mental, physical or emotional reasons can only receive 8 appropriate educational opportunities from a program of special educa- 9 tion. Such term does not include a child whose educational needs are due 10 primarily to unfamiliarity with the English language, environmental, 11 cultural or economic factors. Lack of appropriate instruction in read- 12 ing, including in the essential components of reading instruction as 13 defined in subsection three of section twelve hundred eight of the 14 elementary and secondary education act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, 15 or lack of appropriate instruction in mathematics or limited English 16 proficiency shall not be the determinant factor in identifying a student 17 as a student with a disability. Such disabilities shall include but not 18 be limited to: 19 (a) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting 20 verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally 21 evident before age three, that adversely affects a student's educational 22 performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are 23 engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resist- 24 ance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual 25 responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a student's EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11462-01-9A. 7536 2 1 educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the 2 student has an emotional disturbance as defined in paragraph (d) of this 3 subdivision. A student who manifests the characteristics of autism after 4 age three could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria in this 5 paragraph are otherwise satisfied. 6 (b) Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the 7 student is impaired in processing linguistic information through hear- 8 ing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a student's 9 educational performance. 10 (c) Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, 11 the combination of which causes such severe communication and other 12 developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in 13 special education programs solely for students with deafness or students 14 with blindness. 15 (d) Emotional disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of 16 the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked 17 degree that adversely affects a student's educational performance: 18 (1) an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, 19 sensory, or health factors; 20 (2) an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal 21 relationships with peers and teachers; 22 (3) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circum- 23 stances; 24 (4) a generally pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or 25 (5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with 26 personal or school problems. The term includes schizophrenia. The term 27 does not apply to students who are socially maladjusted, unless it is 28 determined that they have an emotional disturbance. 29 (e) Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether perma- 30 nent or fluctuating, that adversely affects the child's educational 31 performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in 32 this section. 33 (f) Learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic 34 psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, 35 spoken or written, which manifests itself in an imperfect ability to 36 listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calcu- 37 lations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, 38 brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, and developmental aphasia. The 39 term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of 40 visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of an intellectual disability, of 41 emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural or economic disad- 42 vantage. 43 (g) Intellectual disability means significantly subaverage general 44 intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adap- 45 tive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that 46 adversely affects a student's educational performance. 47 (h) Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as 48 intellectual disability-blindness, intellectual disability-orthopedic 49 impairment, etc.), the combination of which cause such severe educa- 50 tional needs that they cannot be accommodated in a special education 51 program solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include 52 deaf-blindness. 53 (i) Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that 54 adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term includes 55 impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of 56 some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis,A. 7536 3 1 bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cere- 2 bral palsy, amputation, and fractures or burns which cause contrac- 3 tures). 4 (j) Other health-impairment means having limited strength, vitality or 5 alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, 6 that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational envi- 7 ronment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems, including but 8 not limited to a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephri- 9 tis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, 10 leukemia, diabetes, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit 11 hyperactivity disorder or tourette syndrome, which adversely affects a 12 student's educational performance. 13 (k) Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such 14 as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment or a voice 15 impairment, that adversely affects a student's educational performance. 16 (l) Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain 17 caused by an external physical force or by certain medical conditions 18 such as stroke, encephalitis, aneurysm, and anoxia or brain tumors with 19 resulting impairments that adversely affect educational performance. The 20 term includes open or closed head injuries or brain injuries from 21 certain medical conditions resulting in mild, moderate or severe impair- 22 ments in one or more areas, including cognition, language, memory, 23 attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgment, problem solving, 24 sensory, perceptual and motor abilities, psychosocial behavior, physical 25 functions, information processing, and speech. The term does not include 26 injuries that are congenital or caused by birth trauma. 27 (m) Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in 28 vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a student's educa- 29 tional performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. 30 (n) Dyslexia means a specific learning disability that is neurobiolog- 31 ical in origin. It is characterized at the level of a keen observer as 32 frustration, withdrawal, anxiety, aversion to homework and schoolwork, 33 underperformance, and an undoing of the personal sense of ability, 34 psycho-somatic symptoms that are triggered by school-failure to read or 35 perform well at spelling, written expression or other language tasks, or 36 mixing up right and left hands. Other observable characteristics 37 include difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by 38 poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically 39 result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is 40 often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the 41 provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may 42 include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience 43 that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge. 44 (o) "Special education" means specially designed instruction which 45 includes special services or programs as delineated in subdivision two 46 of this section, and transportation, provided at no cost to the parents 47 to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. A "child with a 48 handicapping condition" means a child with a disability. 49 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 4401 of the education law, as amended by 50 chapter 311 of the laws of 1999, is amended to read as follows: 51 1. A "child with a disability" or "student with a disability" means a 52 person under the age of twenty-one who is entitled to attend public 53 schools pursuant to section thirty-two hundred two of this chapter and 54 who, because of mental, physical or emotional reasons can only receive 55 appropriate educational opportunities from a program of special educa- 56 tion. Such term does not include a child whose educational needs are dueA. 7536 4 1 primarily to unfamiliarity with the English language, environmental, 2 cultural or economic factors. Lack of instruction in reading or math- 3 ematics or limited English proficiency shall not be the determinant 4 factor in identifying a student as a student with a disability. Such 5 disabilities shall include but not be limited to: 6 (a) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting 7 verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally 8 evident before age three, that adversely affects a student's educational 9 performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are 10 engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resist- 11 ance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual 12 responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a student's 13 educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the 14 student has an emotional disturbance as defined in paragraph (d) of this 15 subdivision. A student who manifests the characteristics of autism after 16 age three could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria in this 17 paragraph are otherwise satisfied. 18 (b) Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the 19 student is impaired in processing linguistic information through hear- 20 ing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a student's 21 educational performance. 22 (c) Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, 23 the combination of which causes such severe communication and other 24 developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in 25 special education programs solely for students with deafness or students 26 with blindness. 27 (d) Emotional disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of 28 the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked 29 degree that adversely affects a student's educational performance: 30 (1) an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, 31 sensory, or health factors; 32 (2) an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal 33 relationships with peers and teachers; 34 (3) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circum- 35 stances; 36 (4) a generally pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or 37 (5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with 38 personal or school problems. The term includes schizophrenia. The term 39 does not apply to students who are socially maladjusted, unless it is 40 determined that they have an emotional disturbance. 41 (e) Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether perma- 42 nent or fluctuating, that adversely affects the child's educational 43 performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in 44 this section. 45 (f) Learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic 46 psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, 47 spoken or written, which manifests itself in an imperfect ability to 48 listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calcu- 49 lations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, 50 brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, and developmental aphasia. The 51 term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of 52 visual, hearing or motor disabilities, of an intellectual disability, of 53 emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural or economic disad- 54 vantage. 55 (g) Intellectual disability means significantly subaverage general 56 intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adap-A. 7536 5 1 tive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that 2 adversely affects a student's educational performance. 3 (h) Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as 4 intellectual disability-blindness, intellectual disability-orthopedic 5 impairment, etc.), the combination of which cause such severe educa- 6 tional needs that they cannot be accommodated in a special education 7 program solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include 8 deaf-blindness. 9 (i) Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that 10 adversely affects a student's educational performance. The term includes 11 impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of 12 some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, 13 bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cere- 14 bral palsy, amputation, and fractures or burns which cause contrac- 15 tures). 16 (j) Other health-impairment means having limited strength, vitality or 17 alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, 18 that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational envi- 19 ronment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems, including but 20 not limited to a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephri- 21 tis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, 22 leukemia, diabetes, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit 23 hyperactivity disorder or tourette syndrome, which adversely affects a 24 student's educational performance. 25 (k) Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such 26 as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment or a voice 27 impairment, that adversely affects a student's educational performance. 28 (l) Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain 29 caused by an external physical force or by certain medical conditions 30 such as stroke, encephalitis, aneurysm, and anoxia or brain tumors with 31 resulting impairments that adversely affect educational performance. The 32 term includes open or closed head injuries or brain injuries from 33 certain medical conditions resulting in mild, moderate or severe impair- 34 ments in one or more areas, including cognition, language, memory, 35 attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgment, problem solving, 36 sensory, perceptual and motor abilities, psychosocial behavior, physical 37 functions, information processing, and speech. The term does not include 38 injuries that are congenital or caused by birth trauma. 39 (m) Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in 40 vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a student's educa- 41 tional performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. 42 (n) Dyslexia means a specific learning disability that is neurobiolog- 43 ical in origin. It is characterized at the level of a keen observer as 44 frustration, withdrawal, anxiety, aversion to homework and schoolwork, 45 underperformance, and an undoing of the personal sense of ability, 46 psycho-somatic symptoms that are triggered by school-failure to read or 47 perform well at spelling, written expression or other language tasks, or 48 mixing up right and left hands. Other observable characteristics 49 include difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by 50 poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically 51 result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is 52 often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the 53 provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may 54 include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience 55 that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.A. 7536 6 1 (o) "Special education" means specially designed instruction which 2 includes special services or programs as delineated in subdivision two 3 of this section, and transportation, provided at no cost to the parents 4 to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. A "child with a 5 handicapping condition" means a child with a disability. 6 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 7 it shall not affect any student's individualized education program that 8 has been approved for the 2019--2020 school year; provided, further, 9 that the amendments to subdivision 1 of section 4401 of the education 10 law made by section one of this act shall be subject to the expiration 11 and reversion of such subdivision pursuant to section 22 of chapter 352 12 of the laws of 2005, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of 13 section two of this act shall take effect.