Special Education

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In compliance with Child Find regulations and the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia, Special Education services in the city of Martinsville are available for individuals from the age of 2 through 21 who are eligible in the following areas of disability:

• Autism

• Deafness

• Deaf-blindness

• Visual impairment including blindness

• Developmental delay

• Hearing Impaired

• Intellectually disability

• Orthopedic impairment

• Specific learning disability

• Speech or language impairment

• Emotional disturbance

• Traumatic brain injury

• Multiple disabilities

Children who have exceptionalities in the above categories should be referred for possible special services. Those who qualify are entitled to a free and appropriate education as specified under the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act”.

Special Education Parent/Family Liaison

Pursuant to the Code of Virginia § 22.1-253.13:2 and § 22.1-214.5, Dr. Cynthia Tarpley will serve as the special education parent/family liaison for Martinsville City Public Schools. The special education parent/family liaisons will serve as a resource to parents and families to understand and engage in the referral, evaluation, reevaluation, IEP process, and eligibility process if they suspect that their child has a disability.  The special education parent/family liaison will work in collaboration with  special education family support centers.

Parents of children who may qualify for services under IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 should contact Dr. Cynthia Tarpley, Executive Director of Special Education and Student Services for Martinsville City Schools at 276.403.5856.

"Autism" means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance as defined in this chapter. A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be diagnosed as having autism if the criteria in this definition are satisfied.

"Deafness" means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects the child's educational performance.

"Deaf-blindness" means hearing and visual impairments occurring at the same time, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.

"Developmental delay" means a disability affecting a child ages two through eight who is experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development.

"Emotional disturbance" means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:

1. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors;

2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers;

3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;

4. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression;

5. or A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

"Hearing impairment" means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.

"Intellectually Disabled" means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

"Multiple disabilities" means two or more impairments at the same time (for example, intellectually disability - blindness, learning disability - orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blindness.

"Orthopedic impairment" means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., club foot, absence of some member), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).

"Specific learning disability" means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; of intellectual disability; of emotional disturbance; or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

"Speech or language impairment" means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

"Traumatic brain injury" means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; 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, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

"Visual impairment including blindness" means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

"Other Health Impaired" means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and adversely affects a child’s educational performance.