Does My Kid Qualify for an IEP Under “Other Health Impairment (OHI)”?
The “Other Health Impairment” (OHI) category of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) can qualify a student for special education if their learning is inhibited by conditions that limit their strength, vitality, and alertness. In California, the OHI category covers various conditions that commonly qualify a student for services and accommodations to support their academic growth.
Broader than the other IDEA categories, commonly recognized conditions under OHI include:
1. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
One OHI criterion is having “heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment;” in other words, the student is easily overstimulated by typical school settings and therefore, struggles to focus on academics. This symptom is commonly associated with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among students, causing them to behave impulsively, daydream excessively, and struggle with sitting still and staying focused. What’s more, ADHD frequently co-occurs with Tourette’s Syndrome, another condition that can qualify students for special education under OHI. If ADHD is impacting your student’s learning, an assessment from a school psychologist or district-contracted evaluator may qualify them for supportive interventions.
2. Asthma
Asthma is a condition that causes a person’s airway to narrow, swell, and produce excess mucus which causes fits of coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Like many chronic conditions, asthma cannot be cured, but its symptoms can be treated and managed. Even when treated, the anxiety surrounding the potential for asthma attacks can make engaged learning difficult for affected students. However, a diagnosis alone is not enough to qualify a student for an 504 plan or IEP. Students can only be considered eligible if a qualified diagnostician has documented how asthma is impairing their learning.
3. Anxiety Disorders
A certain degree of worrying is typical in all stages of life. Academic pressures, puberty, and conflicts with family or friends are common stressors among developing kids. Anxiety disorders, however, turn occasional worries into all-encompassing threats to a student’s emotional wellbeing. If left untreated, these worries intensify as time goes on, causing physical pains, restlessness, withdrawal, and fatigue that can profoundly impact a student’s academic life. Anxiety disorders can present in various forms, including:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): Exhibiting persistent and disproportionately high feelings of fear or dread over a variety of stressors.
Panic Disorder: Experiencing sudden periods of intense discomfort, fear, or the sense of losing control even when there is no immediate threat.
Social Anxiety Disorder: Feeling a persistent and intense fear of being observed or judged by other people. This fear may stop them from going to school, engaging in a classroom, or interacting with peers and teachers.
If an anxiety disorder or another OHI condition is impacting your student’s ability to learn, our diagnosticians can help. Schedule your consultation below to learn about our services.
4. Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that affects how the body uses blood sugar, and how much blood sugar there is in the system. Type 1 and 2 diabetes are both chronic and can impact a student’s ability to effectively process information and pay attention in classes. Some symptoms of type 1 and 2 diabetes are physical weakness, exhaustion, blurry vision, and other physical and sensory challenges. In combination, these can affect a student’s learning by causing difficulties with memory, processing speed, attention, and perceptual skills.
*Reminder: A diabetes diagnosis, or diagnosis of a different OHI, does not automatically qualify a student for special education. A qualified evaluator must also identify how their condition creates an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
5. Depression
Like anxiety, occasional feelings of sadness are a normal and expected part of development. The consistent state of sorrow caused by Depressive disorders, however, is debilitating to an affected student’s mood and school experience. Both Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD) can qualify a student for special education.
Key differences between MDD and PDD include their length, frequency, and intensity; MDD is more episodic, with bouts of severe symptoms for at least two weeks at a time with at least 2 months between episodes. PDD symptoms are often less severe than those of MDD, but last consistently for at least 1 year in children and 2 years in adults. Both MDD and PDD cause persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest that interfere with one’s ability to eat, study, sleep, and effectively engage in learning.
6. Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures. In addition to the fear and disruption of being at constant risk for seizures, students with epilepsy are at heightened risk for learning disabilities, attention problems, and other cognitive impairment. Due to the physical burden of these conditions, students may have a hard time getting to school, sleeping well, and focusing throughout the day.
7. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causes intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors that can disrupt every aspect of an affected student’s life. Their obsessions (recurring thoughts that cause feelings of anxiety) and compulsions (repetitive behaviors that provide relief from those anxieties) make it challenging for students to socially and academically function. A student with OCD may qualify for either the Emotional Disturbance or OHI categories of IDEA, depending on a number of factors including the severity of their symptoms and whether they have any co-occurring disorders. To qualify under either category, however, a qualified evaluator must also clearly identify how OCD inhibits the student’s learning.
8. Impairment “Such As…”
OHI is defined as learning impairment “due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder…” The addition of these two little words has big implications; “such as” implies that conditions that are not explicitly named in IDEA can still qualify a student for an IEP if the condition impairs the student’s learning and is not covered in one of the other 12 categories.
Seeking special education for your student
If your student has a condition that impairs their learning but does not fall under the other 13 categories of IDEA, they may qualify for a 504 Plan or an IEP under the OHI category. An evaluation from an Educational Psychologist is the first step toward securing effective support. Our diagnosticians provide comprehensive testing to guide you toward seeking the best interventions for your student’s needs.
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Our comprehensive evaluations test for conditions that impact mental health and development such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, depression, anxiety, learning disorders, and developmental delays.
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How to Cite This Blog Article:
Shinn. M.M. (2022). Does My Kid Qualify for an IEP Under “Other Health Impairment (OHI)”? Psychologically Speaking. [Variations Psychology blog post]. Retrieved from www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/does-my-kid-qualify-for-an-iep-under-other-health-impairment-ohi