Whenever used in sections 10-76a to 10-76i, inclusive:

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(1) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Education.

(2) “Child” means any person twenty-two years of age or younger or, for children requiring special education, until such child is graduated from high school or at the end of the school year during which such child reaches age twenty-two, whichever occurs first.

(3) An “exceptional child” means a child who deviates either intellectually, physically or emotionally so markedly from normally expected growth and development patterns that he or she is or will be unable to progress effectively in a regular school program and needs a special class, special instruction or special services.

(4) “Special education” means specially designed instruction developed in accordance with the regulations of the commissioner, subject to approval by the State Board of Education offered at no cost to parents or guardians, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings and instruction in physical education and special classes, programs or services, including related services, designed to meet the educational needs of exceptional children.

(5) “A child requiring special education” means any exceptional child who (A) meets the criteria for eligibility for special education pursuant to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1400, et seq., as amended from time to time, (B) has extraordinary learning ability or outstanding talent in the creative arts, the development of which requires programs or services beyond the level of those ordinarily provided in regular school programs but which may be provided through special education as part of the public school program, or (C) is age three to five, inclusive, and is experiencing developmental delay that causes such child to require special education.

(6) “Developmental delay” means significant delay in one or more of the following areas: (A) Physical development; (B) communication development; (C) cognitive development; (D) social or emotional development; or (E) adaptive development, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures and demonstrated by scores obtained on an appropriate norm-referenced standardized diagnostic instrument.

(7) “Related services” means related services, as defined in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1400 et seq., as amended from time to time.

(8) “Extraordinary learning ability” and “outstanding creative talent” shall be defined by regulation by the commissioner, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, after consideration by said commissioner of the opinions of appropriate specialists and of the normal range of ability and rate of progress of children in the Connecticut public schools.