Disabilities. As defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Such conditions include 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 that require special education or related services.

Dispositions. See Professional Dispositions.

Distance Learning. A formal educational process in which instruction occurs when the learner and the instructor are not in the same place at the same time. Distance learning can occur through virtually any media including asyn¬chronous or synchronous, electronic or printed communications.

Distance Learning Program. A program in which over half of the required courses in the program occur when the learner and the instructor are not in the same place at the same time. See Distance Learning. These programs include those offered by the professional educational unit through a contract with an outside vendor or in a consortium arrangement with other higher education institutions, as well as those offered solely by the unit.

Diversity. Differences among groups of people and individuals based on ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, gender, exceptionalities, language, religion, sexual orientation, and geographical area. The types of diversity neces¬sary for addressing the elements on candidate interactions with diverse faculty, candidates, and P-12 students are stated in the rubrics for those elements.