Virginia Law

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Blind person," as defined in § 51.5-60 of the Code of Virginia, means an individual who has central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye, as measured with best correction, or a limitation in the field of vision in the better eye, such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less.

"DeafBlind Services" means special assistance and supports a person needs because of a combined loss of vision and hearing, including an interpreter for a person who is deafblind; communication skills assessment and training; and assessment of special aids and devices such as tactile or visual signaling systems, telecommunication devices, and assistive listening devices.

"DBVI" means the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired.

"Department" means the Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired.

"Persons who are deaf," as defined in subdivision 1 of § 51.5-111 of the Code of Virginia, means individuals whose hearing is totally impaired or whose hearing, with or without amplification, is so seriously impaired that the primary means of receiving spoken communication is through visual input such as lip-reading, sign language, finger spelling, reading, or writing.

"Persons who are deafblind," pursuant to 20 USC § 1905(2)(B) and 29 USC § 1905(2)(A), means individuals: (i) who have central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with corrective lenses, or a field defect such that the peripheral diameter of visual fields subtends an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees, or a progressive visual loss having a prognosis leading to one or both of these conditions; (ii) who have a chronic hearing impairment so severe that most speech cannot be understood with optimum amplification, or a progressive hearing loss having a prognosis leading to this condition; (iii) for whom the combination of impairments described in this definition cause extreme difficulty in attaining independence in daily life activities, achieving psychological adjustment, or obtaining a vocation; and (iv) who, despite the inability to be measured accurately for hearing and vision loss due to cognitive or behavioral constraints, or both, can be determined through functional and performance assessments to have severe hearing and visual disabilities that cause extreme difficulty in attaining independence in daily life activities, achieving psychological adjustment or obtaining vocational objectives.

"Persons who are hard-of-hearing," as defined in subdivision 2 of § 51.5-111 of the Code of Virginia, means individuals whose hearing is impaired to an extent that makes hearing difficult but does not preclude the understanding of spoken communication through the ear alone, with or without a hearing aid.

"Severely visually impaired" means vision no better than 20/70 in the better eye with correction or a field of vision restricted to 70 degrees or less in the better eye.

"Speech discrimination" means the ability to hear and understand spoken communication.