Definitions of Severely Handicapped: A Survey of State Departments of Education

State departments of education were surveyed to determine the definitions of severely handicapped currently in use and also to determine whether the provision of education services to this population was mandatory or permissive. It was found that while the majority of states required that education services be provided to all children, fewer than half had a definition of the severely handicapped. Of the states surveyed which had definitions, the majority referred to either the mentally retarded or the multiply handicapped.