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Visually Impaired
Visually Impaired Criteria Checklist
A. Definition of Visually Impaired
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.
34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)(13).
“Visually Impaired” means a medically verified visual impairment accompanied by limitations in
sight that interfere with acquiring information or interaction with the environment to the extent
that special education and related services may be needed.
Minn. R. 3525.1345, subp. 1.
B. Criteria for Visually Impaired
A pupil is eligible as having a visual disability and in need of special education if the pupil meets
one of the criteria in item A and one of the criteria in item B:
A. Medical documentation of a diagnosed visual impairment by a licensed eye specialist
establishing one or more of the following conditions:
(1) visual acuity of 20/60 or less in the better eye with the best conventional correction;
estimation of acuity is acceptable for difficult-to-test pupils; and for pupils not yet
enrolled in kindergarten, measured acuity must be significantly deviant from what is
developmentally age-appropriate;
(2) visual field of 20 degrees or less, or bilateral scotomas; or
(3) a congenital or degenerating eye condition including, for example, progressive
cataract, glaucoma, or retinitis pigmentosa; and
B. A functional [evaluation] of visual abilities conducted by a licensed teacher of the
visually impaired that determines that the pupil:
(1) has limited ability in visually accessing program-appropriate educational media
including, for example textbooks, photocopies, ditto copies, chalkboards, computers,
or environmental signs, without modification;
(2) has limited ability to visually access the full range of program-appropriate
educational materials and media without accommodating actions including, for
example, changes in posture, body movement, focal distance, or squinting;
(3) demonstrates variable visual ability due to environmental factors including, for
example, lighting, contrast, weather, color, or movement, that cannot be controlled;
or
(3) the pupil’s experiences reduced or variable visual ability due to visual fatigue or
factors common to the eye condition.
Minn. R. 3525.1345, subp. 2.
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