As used in this part:

(a) The term ACYF means the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and includes appropriate Regional Office staff.

(b) The term children with disabilities means children with mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments or specific learning disabilities; and who, by reason thereof, need special education and related services. The term children with disabilities for children aged 3 to 5, inclusive, may, at a State's discretion, include children experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and 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; and who, by reason thereof, need special education and related services.

(c) The term Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

(d) The term day means a calendar day.

(e) The term delegate agency means a public or private non-profit agency to which a grantee has delegated the responsibility for operating all or part of its Head Start program.

(f) The term disabilities coordinator means the person on the Head Start staff designated to manage on a full or part-time basis the services for children with disabilities described in part 1308.

(g) The term eligibility criteria means the criteria for determining that a child enrolled in Head Start requires special education and related services because of a disability.

(h) The term grantee means the public or private non-profit agency which has been granted financial assistance by ACYF to administer a Head Start program.

(i) The term individualized education program (IEP) means a written statement for a child with disabilities, developed by the public agency responsible for providing free appropriate public education to a child, and contains the special education and related services to be provided to an individual child.

(j) The term least restrictive environment means an environment in which services to children with disabilities are provided:

(1) to the maximum extent appropriate, with children who are not disabled and in which;

(2) special classes or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

(k) The term Performance Standards means the Head Start program functions, activities and facilities required and necessary to meet the objectives and goals of the Head Start program as they relate directly to children and their families.

(l) The term related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes speech pathology and audiology, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. The term also includes school health services, social work services, and parent counseling and training. It includes other developmental, corrective or supportive services if they are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, including assistive technology services and devices.

(1) The term assistive technology device means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

(2) The term assistive technology service means any service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. The term includes: The evaluation of the needs of an individual with a disability; purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by individuals with disabilities; selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of assistive technology devices; coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs; training or technical assistance for an individual with disabilities, or, where appropriate, the family of an individual with disabilities; and training or technical assistance to professionals who employ or provide services involved in the major life functions of individuals with disabilities.

(m) The term responsible HHS official means the official who is authorized to make the grant of assistance in question or his or her designee.

(n) The term special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents or guardians, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. These services include classroom or home-based instruction, instruction in hospitals and institutions, and specially designed physical education if necessary.