13 categories

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), there are 13 disability categories that qualify students for special education services. These categories help determine eligibility for special education and related services. Here’s an explanation of each eligibility category:

  1. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): This category includes students who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, characterized by difficulties in social communication and interaction, as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviors.
  2. Deafness: Students who have a hearing impairment, whether profound or partial, that adversely affects their educational performance and requires specialized instruction or services, may be eligible under this category.
  3. Deaf-Blindness: Students who have both hearing and visual impairments that cause severe communication, developmental, and educational challenges may be eligible under this category.
  4. Emotional Disturbance: This category includes students who exhibit persistent and severe emotional or behavioral difficulties that significantly impact their ability to learn, build relationships, and function in the school environment.
  5. Intellectual Disability: Students with significantly below-average intellectual functioning, often accompanied by limitations in adaptive behavior, may be eligible under this category.
  6. Multiple Disabilities: Students who have two or more disabilities that require significant educational support and services may be eligible under this category. The combination of disabilities must result in severe educational needs.
  7. Orthopedic Impairment: Students with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or spina bifida, that significantly impair their mobility or ability to access the educational environment may be eligible under this category.
  8. Other Health Impairment: This category encompasses students with chronic or acute health conditions, such as ADHD, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, or Tourette syndrome, that adversely affect their educational performance and require specialized instruction or services.
  9. Specific Learning Disability (SLD): Students with specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia, that impact their ability to acquire, process, or demonstrate academic skills in one or more areas, despite average or above-average intellectual ability, may be eligible under this category.
  10. Speech or Language Impairment: Students with communication disorders, including speech disorders (e.g., articulation disorders) or language disorders (e.g., expressive or receptive language disorders), that adversely affect their educational performance may be eligible under this category.
  11. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): Students who have sustained an injury to the brain caused by an external force, resulting in impairments in cognitive, physical, emotional, or behavioral functioning that adversely affect their educational performance, may be eligible under this category.
  12. Visual Impairment, Including Blindness: Students with visual impairments, ranging from partial sight to blindness, that adversely affect their educational performance and require specialized instruction or services may be eligible under this category.
  13. Developmental Delay (DD): For children aged three through nine, this category may be used if they exhibit delays in physical, cognitive, communication, social-emotional, or adaptive development that require special education and related services.

Each eligibility category has specific criteria and guidelines for determining eligibility, and students must meet the criteria outlined in IDEA and related regulations to qualify for special education services. The evaluation process, which includes assessments, observations, and input from parents and teachers, helps determine eligibility and develop an appropriate Individualized Education Program (IEP) tailored to the student’s unique needs.