Assessment and Evaluation

The assessment and evaluation process for student suspected of having an OHI must include a medical evaluation from a licensed doctor of medicine within one year.  This medical evaluation must have a diagnosis of a medical condition and provide supporting evidence that this significantly affects the child's learning experience.  In addition, a comprehensive developmental or educational assessment must be conducted to indicate the effects of the health impairment on the student's educational performance.

The category of Other Health Impairment includes, but is not limited to, the following subgroups:

AD/HD: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition that can make it hard for a person to sit still, control behavior, and pay attention.  These difficulties usually begin before the age of seven, but often may not be noticed until the child is older.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association (2000), there are three types of AD/HD:

• inattentive type, where the person can't seem to get focused or stay focused on a task or activity;

• hyperactive-impulsive type where the person is very active and often acts without thinking; and

• combined type, where the person is inattentive, impulsive, and too active.

Diabetes: Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, the hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life.  The American Diabetes Association recognizes two overall goals for a child with diabetes under IDEA.

• To provide the child with any needed assistance to keep up with schoolwork that the child either missed because he or she was involved with diabetes care, or had difficulty understanding because he or she was experiencing high or low blood sugar levels; and

• To keep the child safe and maintain optimal learning ability by providing the means to keep his or her blood sugar levels in the best control possible.

Epilepsy: The Epilepsy Foundation of America defines epilepsy as a physical condition that occurs when there is a sudden, brief change in how the brain works.  Improperly functioning brain cells can cause epileptic seizures marked by alterations in a person's consciousness, movement, or actions for a short time.

Heart Disease:  The two types of heart disease in children are "congenital" and acquired."  Present at birth, congenital heart disease (also known as a congenital heart defect), can include such conditions as patent ductus arteriosis, atrial septal fefects, and ventricular septal defects.  Diseases such as Kawasaki disease, rheumatic fever, and infective endocarditis are categorized as acquired heart disease, and typically develops sometime during childhood.  

AD/HD:  as many as 5 out of every 100 children in school may have AD/HD.  Boys are three times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with AD/HD.

Cardiovascular disease:  At present, there are 35 different identifiable heart defects.  About 40,000 children are born with a heart defect each year.  At least 8 of every 1,000 infants born each year have a heart defect.  In 2000, over 25,000 cardiovascular operations for congenital heart disease were performed on children under the age of 20.  Fifty-four percent of operations were performed in males (Health Care Cost and Utilization Project Kid 2000).