Program Descriptions

A brief description of each program is listed below. A more comprehensive description is located on the GaDOE website. Click here for more information.

Autism                 
Students with autism has a severe and chronic disorder that affects communication and behavior and is apparent during early development. It affects educational performance and significantly affects developmental rates and sequences, verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction and participation.

Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (HI)
The program for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing provides students with the academic and social skills necessary for productive functioning in a hearing society. The program provides instruction in:

• Sign language when appropriate
• Interpreters for those students who attend general education classes
• Hearing aid monitoring as well as instruction in the care of hearing aids.

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD)                                     Back to Top
The program for students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders provides services for students whose emotional and/or behavioral functioning interferes significantly with their education performance. The goals of the program include:

• Providing structured learning environments for students with EBD
• Helping students participate successfully in mainstream settings
• Helping students replace negative behaviors with positive behaviors

Mild Intellectual Disabilities (MID)                                               Back to Top
The program for students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities enables students to develop individual skills to their highest potential, enhance their self-concept, and become self-sustaining citizens. The goals of the program are to help students to acquire and improve:

• Functional academic skills
• Social skills
• Daily living skills
• Vocational skills

Moderate Intellectual Disabilities (MOID)                                       Back to Top
The program for students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities is designed to increase basic development and social/community functioning for identified students. The goals of this program are to:

• Enable students to grow personally, socially, and emotionally
• Provide an individualized curriculum
• Build daily living and communication skills
• Enhance cognitive, motor, social, prevocational and vocational skills

Orthopedically Impaired (OI)                                                         Back to Top
This program serves students whose physical limitations are such that they interfere with student’s education. The program focuses on:

• Appropriate academic instruction in a physically accessible environment
• Increasing independent mobility
• Improving daily living skills
• Establishing communication systems needed to facilitate learning.

Other Health Impaired (OHI)                                                          Back to Top
Other Health Impaired is a category for students who have chronic or acute health problems that adversely affect their educational performance. Services are provided through the special education program that meets the individual needs of the student.

Severe/Profound Intellectual Disabilities (SID/PID)                          Back to Top
This program enables severe and profoundly intellectually disabled students to:

• Realize their full educational potential in the personal, social, physical, cognitive, and vocational domains.
• Receive individualized comprehensive and intensive training in the areas of

                    •  Communication
                    •  Motor development
                    •  Daily living
                    •  Functional academics
                    •  Sensory stimulation
                    •  Home living
                    •  Art, music, physical education
                    •  Vocational

  Significant Developmental Delay (SDD)                                     Back to Top
This program serves disabled children ages 3-9. Preschool screening is conducted with the purpose of identifying potential health, development, and educational problems. This program focuses on:

• Helping young children with special needs to grow toward independence and to strive for maximum potential in physical, social, cognitive, communicative, and self-help areas
• Assisting parents to become more proficient with goal setting and behavior training techniques
• Offering support to parents through conferences, parent group meetings, and activity oriented workshops

Speech/Language Impaired (SI)                                                         Back to Top
The Speech/Language program provides professional comprehensive services designed to achieve competence in communication for the student with speech-language impairments.  Speech/language pathologists provide consultative, diagnostic, therapeutic, and augmentative communication services to students ages 3 through 21.

The Speech/Language Impaired Program serves eligible students with communication impairments in at least one of the following areas:

• Articulation
• Voice
• Fluency
• Language

Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)                                              Back to Top
The program for students with Specific Learning Disabilities serves students with average or above average intelligence who exhibit a disorder in one or more of the basic learning processes involved in understanding or in using spoken and written language. The goals of the program include:

• Helping students achieve grade appropriate skills
• Teaching students ways of compensating for processing deficits

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)                                                    Back to Top
Students with Traumatic Brain Injury have an injury to the brain that is caused by an external, physical force. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairment in one or more areas, such as cognition; language and memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, nor brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Visual Impairment/Blind (VI)                                                       Back to Top   
The program for students who are visually impaired/blind assists students in preparing for life in their community. The program provides:

• Support of students in general education by enlarging material, providing large print textbooks, brailing, and oral instruction.
• Mobility training when appropriate
• Assistance and training in daily living skills