How do I apply for Regional Center services under the fifth category?

Disability Rights CA reports that the law is not clear on exactly what falls into the fifth category. “An example might be a person whose IQ is too high for a diagnosis of intellectual disability, but who has significant deficits in adaptive skills that result in him/her functioning like a person with intellectual disability.”

Sometimes, children may be assessed under this category if they have a diagnosis that is directly linked to intellectual impairments, such as Down syndrome, but their IQ doesn’t meet the numeric threshold for intellectual disability.

For some Regional Centers, the fifth category may also include individuals whose diagnoses would now fall under the DSM-V’s 2013 definition of autism spectrum disorder but who received their assessments and diagnoses before those changes were made (for example, people diagnosed with PDD-NOS).