Wisconsin administrative rules for identifying disability category criteria can be found in Wisconsin Administrative Code, Section PI 11.36. This covers the areas of autism, blind and visually impaired, deaf and hard of hearing, emotional behavioral disabilities, intellectual disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, significant developmental delay, speech or language impairments, specific learning disabilities, traumatic brain injury, and the need for special education.
Disability Category Criteria Worksheets
DPI special education content area consultants developed disability category criteria worksheets for each disability category. When school districts use the disability criteria worksheets, the IEP team documentation of disability category criteria more likely adequately addresses all of the required elements and results in fewer cases of inappropriate identification. Use of the disability category criteria worksheets will also increase Wisconsin's performance when measured against Indicator #9 and #10 of the State Performance Plan related to the disproportionate representation of racial and ethnic groups in specific disability categories.
The disability category criteria worksheets will be required IEP forms at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. For 2021-2022 school year, it continues to be a requirement that IEP teams clearly document on the ER-1 how a student meets the disability category criteria outlined in PI-11.36. This includes the new revisions to PI-11.36 for the disability categories of Deafblind, Blind and Visually Impaired, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Speech or Language Impairment which become effective August 1, 2021. IEP teams are encouraged to begin utilizing the updated disability category criteria worksheets as a way to ensure they meet the documentation requirements on the ER-1.
Disability category criteria worksheets are available in the following disability categories. MS Word and Spanish versions are fillable.
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Autism |
Orthopedic Impairment |
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Blind and Visually Impaired |
Other Health Impairment |
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Deaf and Hard of Hearing |
Speech or Language Impairments |
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Deafblind |
Significant Developmental Delay |
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Emotional Behavioral Disabilities |
Traumatic Brain Injury |
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Intellectual Disabilities |
If a student is determined to meet disability category criteria in one or more of the disability categories, the IEP team must then consider whether the student needs specially designed instruction. To assist IEP teams in addressing whether there is a need for specially designed instruction, see the guidance for model form ER-1, Evaluation Report. The model ER-1 form can be found on the DPI Sample Special Education Forms web page.
Disability Category Criteria Guides and Resources
DPI special education content area consultants developed disability category criteria guides to assist districts in appropriately applying disability criteria to individual students. These guides and other resource materials are available on the individual disability webpages:
Autism
Blind and Visually Impaired
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Deafblind
Emotional Behavioral Disabilities
Intellectual Disability
Other Health Impairment
Orthopedic Impairment
Significant Developmental Delay
Specific Learning Disabilities
Speech or Language Impairments
Traumatic Brain Injury
Additional Evaluation Tools and Resources
Guidance and Worksheet for Obtaining a Valid Cognitive Abilities Assessment