TBI Eligibility for Students in EI
The eligibility of students in Early Intervention (EI) under the category of TBI is often described as an area of ambiguity. There is a mistaken belief that students in EI may only be identified as Developmentally Disabled (DD), and not identified as TBI until the age of 3.
Oregon Department of Education has clarified that children in EI may be identified for services under the category of TBI. Below is an excerpt from an email with Alan Garland, an Oregon specialist in Early Childhood Education/Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education:
“With regards to Early Intervention Evaluations, when eligibilities are being considered, there is nothing to prevent programs from using the regional disability categories when they are able to do so. See 581-015-2775(6)(e)(A) below. Regardless of how a child is qualified for EI, the child is assessed in all areas (see 581-015-2775(6)(b)), not just the suspected areas of deficit/need (which is applicable to the 3-5 population, ECSE)."
TBI is a permissible eligibility for children in Early Intervention. Please see 581- 015-27809(3):
(3) To be eligible for EI services, the child must meet the minimum criteria for subsection (a), (b) or (c), below:
(a) Categorical:
(A) The child meets the minimum criteria for one of the following disability categories in OAR 581-015-2130 through 581-015-2180: autism spectrum disorder, deafblindness, hearing impairment, orthopedic impairment, traumatic brain injury(emphasis added) or visual impairment. Regardless of how a child is qualified for EI, a part of the assessment is that the child is assessed in all the following areas: cognitive development, physical development including vision and hearing, communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development (see 581-015-
2775(6)(b))
Often, a program may make a child eligible under DD, and then, as they get to know the child, may determine that additional evaluations are needed, at which point they may, when appropriate, make a referral to regional services for additional eligibility.
EI Eligibility Statement for TBI
Oregon Administrative Rules for Special Education
