Beyond Disability Labels: A Conceptual Framework for Educational Planning in Multiple Disabilities

Terminology used to describe learners with multiple disabilities varies across countries, policy traditions, and professional disciplines, reflecting different purposes for disability identification, descriptions of functioning, participation, and individualized support. This conceptual variation becomes consequential for educational planning when information generated from these perspectives is treated as interchangeable or is not systematically related to educational decision-making. This conceptual article examines categorical, functional, participation-oriented, and support-based perspectives and proposes the Synergistic Impact and Support Needs Model (SISNM) as a framework for organizing their relationships in educational planning. SISNM connects five analytically distinct but interrelated components: Diagnosis, Synergistic Impact, Functioning, Participation, and Support Needs, with Educational Planning serving as the integrative decision-making process through which information across these components is translated into priorities, supports, and learning opportunities. A distinctive feature of the model is the positioning of Synergistic Impact as an explicit assessment question concerning whether and how the educational consequences of co-occurring disability conditions operate additively or interactionally. SISNM does not replace existing frameworks, establish a new disability classification, or prescribe a standardized assessment procedure.