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What is a Developmental Disability?
Each service system (such as Early Intervention (0-3) Preschool Special
Education 3-5 (CPSE) Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)
etc. has their own definition of a developmental disability or delay and set of
assessments or documents which are needed to determine eligibility for services
under that program.
Government Departments administer different programs which provide services to
children with a developmental disability. These state agencies may include the
New York State Department of Health which is the “lead agency” for the Early
Intervention Program. This means they are charged with the responsibility of
administering all services provided by the program and ensuring that the program
is run in accordance with all applicable laws, statutes and regulations, whether
federal under Part C of IDEA, or State.
The New York State Department of Education administers all education services
for children from ages 3-21. This includes the Preschool Special Education (or
CPSE) for 3-5 year olds to Special Education services for children aged 5-21.
The NYS Office of People with Developmental Disabilities provides various
services to children of any age and to the families who are caring for them. We
will discuss more about these options later.
New York State's Definition of Developmental Delay
Developmental delay means that a child has not attained developmental milestones
expected for the child's age adjusted for prematurity in one or more of the
following areas of development: cognitive, physical (including vision and
hearing), communication, social-emotional, or adaptive development.
For the purposes of the Early Intervention Program, a developmental delay is a
delay that has been measured by qualified personnel using informed clinical
opinion, appropriate diagnostic procedures, and/or instruments, and documented
as:
A 12-month delay in one functional area;
or A 33% delay in one functional area
or a 25% delay in each of two areas;
or If appropriate, standardized instruments are individually administered in the
evaluation, a score of at least 2.0 standard deviation below the mean in one
functional area or a score of at least 1.5 standard deviation below the mean in
each of two functional areas..
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