PI 11.36(5)(a)1.1. “Home languages” mean the languages used by the child or the parent of the child in their natural environment, or the modes of communication that are used by the child or the parent of the child in their natural environment, and may include languages other than English, sign language, braille, or augmentative and alternative communication.

PI 11.36(5)(a)2.2. “Natural environment” means settings that are natural or typical for a same-aged child without a disability and may include school, home, or community.

PI 11.36(5)(a)3.3. “Significant discrepancy” means performance on a norm-referenced assessment that meets the cutoff score for a speech or language disorder and is significantly below age- or grade-level expectations relative to a normative sample, often reported as a percentile or standard score.

PI 11.36(5)(a)4.4. “Speech or language impairment” means an impairment of speech or sound production, voice, fluency, or language that adversely affects educational performance or social, emotional or vocational development.

PI 11.36(5)(am)(am) Assessments and other evaluation materials used to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of a child’s speech and language development shall be provided and administered in the child’s home languages. Assessments and other evaluation materials shall be in the form most likely to yield accurate information unless it is not feasible to do so, and shall describe the child’s speech and language abilities and how those abilities impact the child’s progress in the general education environment relative to the speech and language demands of the classroom and curriculum. Interpretation of assessments shall be based on the representativeness of the normative sample and the psychometric properties of the assessment.

PI 11.36(5)(b)(b) The IEP team may identify a child as having a speech or language impairment if the child meets the definition under par. (a) and meets any of the following criteria:

PI 11.36(5)(b)1.1. Following consideration of the child’s age, culture, language background, and dialect, the child meets all of the following conditions for a speech sound disorder:

PI 11.36(5)(b)1.a.a. The child’s speech sound production is documented to be delayed, as evidenced through at least one observation in a natural environment.

PI 11.36(5)(b)1.b.b. The child’s speech sound production is documented to be delayed, as measured by a criterion-referenced assessment, such as a developmental scale or a phonetic inventory, or significant discrepancy in performance from typical on a norm-referenced assessment.

PI 11.36(5)(b)1.c.c. The child’s intelligibility is below the expected range and not due to influences of home languages or dialect. Intelligibility ratings as documented by school staff or caregivers indicate an impact across environments.

PI 11.36(5)(b)2.2. Following consideration of the child’s age, culture, language background, or dialect, the child demonstrates the characteristics of a phonological disorder, which include both of the following:

PI 11.36(5)(b)2.a.a. The child’s intelligibility is below the expected range and not due to influences of home languages or dialect. Intelligibility ratings as documented by school staff or caregivers indicate an impact across environments.

PI 11.36(5)(b)2.b.b. The child’s phonological process use is documented to be non-developmental or outside of the expected developmental range, as evidenced through at least one observation in a natural environment, and by measurement of either the presence of one or more phonological processes occurring at least 40%, significant discrepancy in performance from typical on a norm-referenced assessment, or both.

PI 11.36(5)(b)3.3. The child’s voice is impaired in the absence of an acute, respiratory virus or infection and not due to temporary physical factors such as allergies, short term vocal abuse, or puberty. Following consideration of the child’s age, culture, language background, or dialect, the child demonstrates characteristics of a voice impairment, which include any of the following:

PI 11.36(5)(b)4.4. The child exhibits characteristics of a fluency disorder, following consideration of the child’s age, language background, culture, and dialect. The evaluation shall include a variety of measures, including case history, observation in natural environment, norm-referenced assessment or disfluency analysis, and result in evidence of atypical fluency. The presence of one or more of the following characteristics shall indicate a fluency disorder:

PI 11.36(5)(b)4.a.a. Speech disfluencies associated with stuttering or atypical disfluency, which include repetitions of phrases, words, syllables, and sounds or dysrhythmic phonations such as prolongations of sounds or blockages of airflow typically in excess of 2% of total syllables, one second of duration, and two or more iterations in a repetition. Non-verbal physical movements, such as eye blinking or head jerking, may accompany the stuttering. Negative feelings about oral communication may be significant enough to result in avoidance behaviors in an attempt to hide or diminish stuttering.

PI 11.36(5)(b)4.b.b. A speech rate that is documented to be rapid, irregular, or both and may be accompanied by sound or syllable omissions, sequencing errors, or a high number of non-stuttering speech disfluencies such as interjections, phrase and whole word repetitions, and revisions. The resulting speech fluency pattern is considered to be significantly disruptive to efficient communication. Negative feelings and attitudes about oral communication may or may not be present under this disfluency profile.

PI 11.36(5)(b)5.5. Following consideration of the child’s age, culture, language background, or dialect, the child demonstrates a language impairment in the area of language form, content or use, as evidenced through an observation in a natural environment and by measurement of at least two of the following: