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A07199 Summary:

BILL NOA07199
 
SAME ASNo Same As
 
SPONSORThiele
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §4401, Ed L
 
Amends the definition of a student with a disability.
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A07199 Actions:

BILL NOA07199
 
04/29/2021referred to education
01/05/2022referred to education
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A07199 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          7199
 
                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 29, 2021
                                       ___________
 
        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.
                                                                   LBD11131-01-1

        A. 7199                             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. 7199                             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    1-a. "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 due

        A. 7199                             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. 7199                             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. 7199                             6
 
     1    1-a.  "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 2021-2022 school year; provided, further, that
     9  the  amendments  to  subdivision  1 of section 4401 of the education law
    10  made by section one of this act shall be subject to the  expiration  and
    11  reversion  of  such subdivision pursuant to section 22 of chapter 352 of
    12  the laws of 2005, as amended, when upon  such  date  the  provisions  of
    13  section two of this act shall take effect.
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