Fast Facts

Students with disabilities

Question:
How many students with disabilities receive services?

Response:

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted in 1975, mandates that children and youth ages 3–21 with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate public school education. The percentage of total public school enrollment that represents children served by federally supported special education programs increased from 8.3 percent to 13.8 percent between 1976–77 and 2004–05. Much of this overall increase can be attributed to a rise in the percentage of students identified as having specific learning disabilities from 1976–77 (1.8 percent) to 2004–05 (5.7 percent). The overall percentage of students being served in programs for those with disabilities decreased between 2004–05 (13.8 percent) and 2013–14 (12.9 percent). However, there were different patterns of change in the percentages served with some specific conditions between 2004–05 and 2013–14. The percentage of children identified as having other health impairments (limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes) rose from 1.1 to 1.6 percent of total public school enrollment, the percentage with autism rose from 0.4 to 1.1 percent, and the percentage with developmental delay rose from 0.7 to 0.8 percent. The percentage of children with specific learning disabilities declined from 5.7 percent to 4.5 percent of total public school enrollment during this period.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Digest of Education Statistics, 2015 (NCES 2016-014), Chapter 2.

Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, by type of disability: Selected years, 1976–77 through 2013–14
Type of disability	1976–77	1980–81	1990–91	2000–01	2001–02	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08¹	2008–09¹	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
Number served (in thousands)
All disabilities	3,694	4,144	4,710	6,296	6,407	6,523	6,634	6,720	6,718	6,687	6,597	6,483	6,481	6,436	6,401	6,429	6,464
Autism	–	–	–	93	114	137	163	191	223	258	296	336	378	417	455	498	538
Deaf-blindness	–	3	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
Developmental delay	–	–	–	213	242	283	305	332	339	333	357	354	368	382	393	402	410
Emotional disturbance	283	347	389	480	483	485	489	489	477	464	442	420	407	390	373	362	354
Hearing impairment	88	79	58	77	78	78	79	79	79	80	79	78	79	78	78	77	77
Intellectual disability	961	830	534	624	616	602	593	578	556	534	500	478	463	448	435	430	425
Multiple disabilities	–	68	96	131	136	138	140	140	141	142	138	130	131	130	132	133	132
Orthopedic impairment	87	58	49	82	83	83	77	73	71	69	67	70	65	63	61	59	56
Other health impairment²	141	98	55	303	350	403	464	521	570	610	641	659	689	716	743	779	817
Preschool disabled³	†	†	390	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†
Specific learning disabilities	796	1,462	2,129	2,860	2,861	2,848	2,831	2,798	2,740	2,665	2,569	2,476	2,431	2,361	2,303	2,277	2,264
Speech or language impairment	1,302	1,168	985	1,388	1,391	1,412	1,441	1,463	1,468	1,475	1,454	1,426	1,416	1,396	1,373	1,356	1,334
Traumatic brain injury	–	–	–	16	22	22	23	24	24	25	25	26	25	26	26	26	26
Visual impairment	38	31	23	29	28	29	28	29	29	29	29	29	29	28	28	28	28
Number served as a percent of total enrollment⁴
All disabilities	8.3	10.1	11.4	13.3	13.4	13.5	13.7	13.8	13.7	13.6	13.4	13.2	13.1	13.0	12.9	12.9	12.9
Autism	–	–	–	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.1
Deaf-blindness	–	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#	#
Developmental delay	–	–	–	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Emotional disturbance	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7
Hearing impairment	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Intellectual disability	2.2	2.0	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9	0.9
Multiple disabilities	–	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Orthopedic impairment	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Other health impairment²	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.6	0.7	0.8	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.6
Preschool disabled³	†	†	0.9	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†	†
Specific learning disabilities	1.8	3.6	5.2	6.1	6.0	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.6	5.4	5.2	5.0	4.9	4.8	4.7	4.6	4.5
Speech or language impairment	2.9	2.9	2.4	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.7	2.7
Traumatic brain injury	–	–	–	#	#	#	#	#	#	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Visual impairment	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1

– Not available.
†Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
¹Data do not include Vermont, for which 2007–08 and 2008–09 data were not available. In 2006–07, the total number of 3- to 21-year-olds served in Vermont was 14,010.
²Other health impairments include having limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes.
³For 1990–91, preschool children are not included in the counts by disability condition, but are separately reported. For other years, preschool children are included in the counts by disability condition.
⁴Based on the total enrollment in public schools, prekindergarten through 12th grade.

NOTE: Prior to October 1994, children and youth with disabilities were served under Chapter 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as well as under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B. Data reported in this table for years prior to 1994–95 include children ages 0–21 served under Chapter 1. Data are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia only. Increases since 1987–88 are due in part to new legislation enacted in fall 1986, which added a mandate for public school special education services for 3- to 5-year-old children with disabilities. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Digest of Education Statistics, 2015 (NCES 2016-014), Table 204.30.

Related Tables and Figures: (Listed by Release Date)

Other Resources: (Listed by Release Date)

2017, Common Core of Data (CCD) School and Agency Reports: These reports include totals for schools and their characteristics, students, federal program participation, and district size.