Students who have a moderate/severe visual impairment and meet the following criteria, are eligible for the services of the itinerant teacher for the visually impaired:

1. Visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye after correction; or

2. A visual field of 20 degrees or less.

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Speech and/or Language Exceptionality 

Students who meet this exceptionality must be diagnosed with a speech and/or language impairment by a speech-language pathologist. In districts without speech and language services, other arrangements may be considered to identify students with these exceptionalities. Not every student with this exceptionality will receive service from the speech-language pathologist directly. The school speech-language pathologist will determine the appropriate programming and service delivery model to meet the student's needs. Scores on a standardized assessment will not be the only determining factor to qualify for service.

Students who have a moderate to severe language delay/disorder based on a comprehensive assessment meet the exceptionality. A comprehensive assessment should include a completed referral, pre-referral information, standardized test(s), teacher consults, and whenever possible classroom observations. The speech-language pathologist will determine severity of need based on the results of the comprehensive assessment and recommend programming based on these results. Students with identified speech, voice or fluency impairments, as determined by a speech-language pathologist also meet the exceptionality.

Language impairment results from the delayed or disordered development of receptive language, expressive language, pragmatics, language processing and/or phonological awareness. Receptive language refers to the understanding of language; expressive language is the ability to communicate a message effectively; pragmatics is the appropriate use of the social conventions of language; language processing refers to the ability to interpret auditory messages; and phonological awareness refers to the awareness of the sounds and syllables in oral language and the ability to verbally manipulate these sounds and syllables.

Speech Sound Disorders: These problems involve both articulatory disorders and phonological disorders. Sounds may be substituted, distorted or omitted and may result in speech sounding mildly different from that of peers, to sounding severely unintelligible.

Fluency Disorders: These are characterized by repetitions, prolongations, or blocks that interrupt the flow of speech, or any abnormal disruptions in the normal rhythmic flow of speech that are noticeable and not controlled by the child.

Voice Disorders: Deviations in pitch, vocal quality, or loudness patterns constitute voice disorders.

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Physical Disability

Students with a physical disability include those who have an acquired or congenital physical and/or motor impairment. Disabilities such as cerebral palsy, myelomeningocele (spina bifida), muscular dystrophy, arthritis, amputations, congenital anomalies, osteogenesis imperfecta, arthrogryposis and others would be included.

The disability may interfere with the normal function of the bones, and/or muscles, and/or joints and may also include impairment of the central nervous system.

Physical characteristics may include:

• paralysis;
   
• altered muscle tone;
   
• sensory disturbances;
   
• an unsteady gait;
   
• non-ambulation requiring alternate systems of mobility;
   
• loss of, or inability to use, one or more limbs;
   
• poor, gross and/or fine, and/or oral motor control.

The impairment may range from mild to severe, may have minimal impact on the child or interfere substantially with functional ability. The effects of the disability may be minimized through appropriate environmental adaptations and/or the use of assistive devices.

A person with a physical disability may have other accompanying disabilities, e.g., visual or hearing impairment, learning disability, cognitive delay, speech language difficulties, or may have multiple disabilities.

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Learning Disability

Learning disabilities refer to a number of disorders which may affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning. As such, learning disabilities are distinct from global intellectual deficiency.

Learning disabilities result from impairments in one or more processes related to perceiving, thinking, remembering or learning. These include, but are not limited to: language processing; phonological processing; visual spatial processing; processing speed; memory and attention; and executive functions (e.g., planning and decision making).

Learning disabilities range in severity and may interfere with the acquisition and use of one or more of the following:

• oral language (e.g., listening, speaking, understanding);

• reading (e.g., decoding, phonetic knowledge, word recognition, comprehension);

• written language (e.g., spelling and written expression); and,

• mathematics (e.g., computation, problem solving).

Learning disabilities may also involve difficulties with organizational skills, social perception, social interaction and perspective taking.

Learning disabilities are lifelong. The way in which they are expressed may vary over an individual’s lifetime, depending on the interaction between the demands of the environment and the individual’s strengths and needs. Learning disabilities are suggested by unexpected academic under-achievement or achievement which is maintained only by unusually high levels of effort and support.

Learning disabilities are due to genetic and/or neurobiological factors, or injury that alters brain functioning in a manner which affects one or more processes related to learning. These disorders are not due primarily to hearing and/or vision problems, socio-economic factors, cultural or linguistic differences, lack of motivation or ineffective teaching, although these factors may further complicate the challenges faced by individuals with learning disabilities. Learning disabilities may co-exist with various conditions including attentional, behavioural and emotional disorders, sensory impairments or other medical conditions.

For success, individuals with learning disabilities require early identification and timely specialized assessments and interventions involving home, school, community and workplace settings. The interventions need to be appropriate for each individual’s learning disability subtype and, at a minimum, include the provision of:

• specific skill instruction;

• accommodations;

• compensatory strategies; and,

• self-advocacy skills.

                        (Adopted by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, 2002)

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Health/ Neurological/ Related Disorders

Included in this group would be children who have:

• autism spectrum disorders (including autism, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, Asperger’s Syndrome, and Rett’s Syndrome);
   
• health impairments which affect growth, development and/or learning such as diabetes, cancer, asthma (this is not an exhaustive list);
   
• neurological disorders such as myasthenia, seizure disorders, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (this is not an exhaustive list);
   
• an acquired brain injury or a traumatic brain injury resulting in impairment in any of the following areas;
  • meta-cognition;
  • social/emotional;
  • sensorimotor;
  • communication/language.

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