Special Education Categories
Special education is an integral part of the total instructional program of the district. The Ponca City Schools provides a full continuum of services to meet the needs of eligible students that allows access to general education instruction with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate for each student.
To learn more about the referral process or discuss concerns, we encourage you to contact
your child's home school or the Special Education Department at 580-718-3816.
Deafness or Hearing Impairment
Hearing impairment is defined by IDEA as "an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance."
Deafnessis defined as "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification."
Specific Learning Disabilities
Specific learning disabilities can be defined by a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using spoken or written language. This disorder may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, read, write, spell, and/or to perform mathematical calculations.
Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopment disorders, characterized by social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Autistic disorder, sometimes called autism or classical ASD, is the most severe form of ASD, while other conditions along the spectrum include a milder form known as Asperger syndrome.
Speech and Language Disabilities
Speech and language impairment is defined as a communication disorder that adversely affects the child's ability to talk, understand, read, and write. This disability category can be divided into two groups: speech impairments and language impairments.
Developmental Delays
A developmental delay is any significant lag in a child's physical, cognitive, behavioral, emotional, or social development, in comparison with norms.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI), a form of acquired brain injury, occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain. TBI can result when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, or when an object pierces the skull and enters brain tissue.
Emotional Disturbance
Individuals classified as having emotional disturbance (or behavioral disorders) represent 8.1% of all students ages 6-21 served under IDEA, or .72% of the school population (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a).
Visual Impairment
A visual impairment is any visual condition that impacts an individual's ability to successfully complete the activities of everyday life. Students with visual impairments are infants, toddlers, children and youths who experience impairments of the visual system that impact their ability to learn.
Multiple Disabilities
As the term suggests, this disability category encompasses a combination of conditions that may impact a student's ability to learn and achieve success in an academic setting. Students with severe disabilities are typically included under this umbrella terminology.
Intellectual Disabilities
Intellectual disability, also known as mental retardation, is a term used when there are limits to a person's ability to learn at an expected level and function in daily life. Levels of intellectual disability vary greatly in children - from a very slight problem to a very severe problem.
Deaf-Blindness
Deaf-blindness under federal law means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
Orthopedically Impaired
Orthopedic impairment is defined as a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly, disease, and from other causes.
Other Health Impaired
Other health impairment exists as an umbrella term encompassing hundreds of types of impairments that may result in a chronic condition limiting the individual's ability to effectively access the educational environment.