IPRC
 Ontario
Ministry of Education
Categories of Exceptionalities and
Definitions
The following are the
five categories of exceptionality recognized by the province
of Ontario and used in Identification Placement and Review
Committee meetings. There may be some flexibility
within the categories for the purposes of identifying a student
as “exceptional” under the Ministry definition.
Ontario
Ministry of Education Category:
Communication
Learning Disability
A learning disorder evident in both academic and social situations
that involves one or more of the processes necessary for
the proper use of spoken language or the symbols of communication,
and that is characterized by a condition that:
- is not primarily the result of:
- impairment of vision;
- impairment of hearing;
- physical disability;
- developmental disability;
- primary emotional disturbance;
- cultural difference;
- results in a significant discrepancy between academic
achievement and assessed intellectual ability, with deficits
in one or more of the following:
- receptive language (listening, reading);
- language processing (thinking, conceptualizing, integrating);
- expressive language (talking, spelling, writing);
- mathematical computations; and
- may be associated with one or more conditions diagnosed
as:
- a perceptual handicap;
- a brain injury;
- minimal brain dysfunction;
- dyslexia;
- developmental aphasia.
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
- An impairment characterized by deficits in language and
speech development because of a diminished or non-existent
auditory response to sound.
Language Impairment
- A learning disorder characterized by an impairment in
comprehension and/or the use of verbal communication or
the written or other symbol system of communication, which
may be associated with neurological, psychological, physical,
or sensory factors, and which may:
- involve one or more of the form, content, and function
of language in communication; and
- include one or more of:
- language delay;
- dysfluency;
- voice and articulation development, which may or may
not be organically or functionally based.
Speech Impairment
- A disorder in language formulation that may be associated
with neurological, psychological, physical, or sensory
factors; that involves perceptual motor aspects of transmitting
oral messages; and that may be characterized by impairment
in articulation, rhythm, and stress.
Autism
- A severe learning disorder that is characterized by:
- disturbances in:
- rate of educational development;
- ability to relate to the environment;
- mobility;
- perception, speech, and language;
- lack of the representational symbolic behaviour that
precedes language.
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Ontario
Ministry of Education Category:
Intellectual
Giftedness
An unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability
that requires differentiated learning experiences of a
depth and breadth beyond those normally provided in the
regular school program to satisfy the level of educational
potential indicated.
Mild Intellectual Disability
A learning disorder characterized by:
- an ability to profit educationally within a regular class
with the aid of considerable curriculum modification and
supportive service;
- an inability to profit educationally within a regular
class because of slow intellectual development;
- a potential for academic learning, independent social
adjustment, and economic self-support.
Developmental Disability
A severe learning disorder characterized by:
- an inability to profit from a special education program
for students with mild intellectual disabilities because
of slow intellectual development;
- an ability to profit from a special education program
that is designed to accommodate slow intellectual development;
- a limited potential for academic learning, independent
social adjustment, and economic self-support.
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Ontario Ministry of Education Category:
Physical
Physical Disability
A condition of such severe physical limitation or deficiency
as to require special assistance in learning situations
to provide the opportunity for educational achievement
equivalent to that of pupils without exceptionalities who
are of the same age or development level.
Blind and Low Vision
A condition of partial or total impairment of sight or vision
that even with correction affects educational performance
adversely.
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Ontario Ministry of
Education Category:
Behaviour
A learning disorder characterized by specific behaviour
problems over such a period of time, and to such a marked
degree, and of such a nature, as to adversely affect educational
performance, and that may be accompanied by one or more of
the following:
- an inability to build or to maintain interpersonal relationships;
- excessive fears or anxieties;
- a tendency to compulsive reaction; or
- an inability to learn that cannot be traced to intellectual,
sensory or other health factors, or any combination thereof
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Ontario Ministry of Education Category:
Multiple
A combination of learning or other disorders, impairments,
or physical disabilities that is of such a nature as to require,
for educational achievement, the services of one or more
teachers holding qualifications in special education and
the provision of support services appropriate for such disorders,
impairments, or disabilities.
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