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9.6: Identifying Students with Physical or Health Disabilities

  • Page ID
    178856

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    Most students with OIs or OHIs are identified by physicians before or after birth. For example, amniocentesis (i.e., removal of a small amount of amniotic fluid), chorionic villus sampling (i.e., removal of tissue samples from the placental), and ultrasound (i.e., bouncing of sound waves off the fetus to produce a “picture”) are all prenatal procedures that can detect various physical or health disabilities before a child is born. In addition, physicians may use a variety of other medical tests to diagnose OIs and OHIs (e.g., blood tests, electromyography, computerized tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging) after a child is born. TBI is identified through medical procedures such as brain imaging and by observing the student’s physical symptoms (Smiley et al., 2022).


    Smiley, L. R., Richards, S.B., & Taylor, R. (2022). Exceptional students: Preparing teachers for the 21st century (4th ed.). McGraw Hill.