The 13 Disability Categories for Special Education Eligibility Under IDEA

special education evaluationdisabilitieslearning disabilitiesAutism Spectrum Disorder

Aug 29

The purpose of special education is to provide a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to all students with disabilities. This is done through specialized instruction, services, and accommodations and modifications to make the classroom content, delivery of instruction and demonstration of mastery accessible to students based on their unique needs related to the identified disability or disabilities.

When your child is being evaluated for their initial IEP or during a re-evaluation, the first thing the team determines is if your child has a disability or disabilities. This can be determined through district testing, independent evaluations, medical diagnoses or a combination of these reports.

While each state has some “wiggle room” and variations of the titles of their disability categories under state law, federal law has 13 disability categories for which a student can be found eligible under (plus developmental delay).

These are listed in no particular order or in any sort of hierarchy.

Specific Learning Disabilities - includes, dyslexia and dyscalculia: An SLD is a “disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations (IDEA Sec. 300.8).” These do not include learning challenges resulting from environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage, intellectual disabilities or sensory disabilities.
Other Health Impairment - an impairment that adversely affects a child in school due to “chronic or acute health problems such as:
- asthma
- attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
- diabetes,
- epilepsy,
- a heart condition,
- hemophilia,
- lead poisoning,
- leukemia,
- nephritis,
- rheumatic fever,
- sickle cell anemia,
- and Tourette syndrome” (IDEA Sec. 300.8)
Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) - Autism is a developmental disability that significantly impacts verbal and nonverbal communication and social interactions. Engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences are other characteristics associated with ASD. (IDEA Sec. 300.8)
Emotional Disturbance - “is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:
- An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
- An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
- Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
- A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
- A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
- Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. (IDEA Sec. 300.8)”
Speech of Language Impairment - a communication disorder that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
- stuttering,
- impaired articulation,
- language impairment, or a voice impairment, (IDEA Sec. 300.8)
Visual Impairment (including blindness) - an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. (IDEA Sec. 300.8)
Deafness - “hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. (IDEA Sec. 300.8).”
Heading impairment - a fluctuating or permanent impairment in hearing that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness (IDEA Sec. 300.8).
Deaf Blindness - “concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness (IDEA Sec. 300.8).”
Orthopedic Impairment - A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Includes impairments:
- caused by a congenital anomaly,
- impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis),
- and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures). IDEA Sec. 300.8).”
Intellectual Disability - Exists concurrently with the 3 characteristics below and adversely impacts the student’s performance in school:
- significantly below average general intellectual functioning,
- deficits in adaptive behavior
- manifested during the developmental period (IDEA Sec. 300.8)
Traumatic Brain Injury - “an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
- Traumatic brain injury applies to:
  - open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas,
    - such as cognition;
    - language;
    - memory;
    - attention;
    - reasoning;
    - abstract thinking;
    - judgment;
    - problem-solving;
    - sensory,
    - perceptual, and motor abilities;
    - psychosocial behavior;
    - physical functions;
    - information processing;
    - and speech. (IDEA Sec. 300.8)”
Multiple Disabilities - “concomitant impairments (such as intellectual disability-blindness or intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.(IDEA Sec. 300.8).”
Developmental Delay (Ages 3-9) - A child who
- “is experiencing developmental delays (as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures), in one or more of the following areas:
  - Physical development,
  - cognitive development,
  - communication development,
  - social or emotional development,
  - or adaptive development;
- Who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services. (IDEA Sec. 300.8).”

Now, just because your child has a medical diagnosis that falls under these categories does not necessarily mean they will be eligible for special education (an IEP). During the initial or re-evaluation process, the team will also review your child’s progress in school and determine if they require specialized instruction (services, accommodations, modifications, etc) to access the grade level curriculum. A student can have a disability and not require specialized instruction to progress effectively as their grade level peers. For more information on the eligibility process, please refer to our blog (and webinar recording!) all about the eligibility process around HERE!