Children 0 to 21 years old served in federally supported programs for the disabled, by type of disability: 1976-77 to 1999-2000

Table 52.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                   |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |
        Type of disability         |1976-77|1980-81|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95|1995-96| 1996-97 |1997-98|1998-99|1999-2000
___________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
                 1                 |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |  10   |  11   |  12   |   13    |  14   |  15   |   16
___________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
                                   |                                   Number served,\1\ in thousands
                                   |_______ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   All disabilities ...............| 3,694 | 4,144 | 4,439 | 4,529 | 4,631 | 4,761 | 4,941 | 5,111 | 5,309 | 5,378 | 5,573 |   5,729 | 5,903 | 6,054 |   6,195
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
Specific learning disabilities ....|   796 | 1,462 | 1,928 | 1,984 | 2,047 | 2,129 | 2,232 | 2,351 | 2,408 | 2,489 | 2,579 |   2,649 | 2,725 | 2,789 |   2,834
Speech or language impairments ....| 1,302 | 1,168 |   950 |   964 |   971 |   985 |   996 |   994 | 1,014 | 1,015 | 1,022 |   1,043 | 1,056 | 1,068 |   1,080
Mental retardation ................|   961 |   830 |   580 |   560 |   547 |   535 |   537 |   518 |   536 |   555 |   570 |     579 |   589 |   597 |     600
Serious emotional disturbance .....|   283 |   347 |   371 |   372 |   380 |   390 |   399 |   400 |   414 |   427 |   438 |     445 |   453 |   462 |     469
Hearing impairments ...............|    88 |    79 |    56 |    56 |    57 |    58 |    60 |    60 |    64 |    64 |    67 |      68 |    69 |    70 |      71
Orthopedic impairments ........... |    87 |    58 |    46 |    47 |    48 |    49 |    51 |    52 |    56 |    60 |    63 |      66 |    67 |    69 |      71
Other health impairments ..........|   141 |    98 |    45 |    50 |    52 |    55 |    58 |    65 |    82 |   106 |   133 |     160 |   190 |   221 |     253
Visual impairments ................|    38 |    31 |    22 |    22 |    22 |    23 |    24 |    23 |    24 |    24 |    25 |      25 |    25 |    26 |      26
Multiple disabilities .............|   --- |    68 |    77 |    83 |    86 |    96 |    97 |   102 |   108 |    88 |    93 |      98 |   106 |   106 |     111
Deaf-blindness ....................|   --- |     3 |     1 |     1 |     2 |     1 |     1 |     1 |     1 |     1 |     1 |       1 |     1 |     2 |       2
Autism and traumatic brain injury .|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     5 |    19 |    24 |    29 |    39 |      44 |    54 |    67 |      79
Developmental delay ...............|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     --- |     4 |    12 |      19
Preschool disabled\2\..............|   196 |   231 |   332 |   357 |   381 |   390 |   416 |   450 |   487 |   519 |   544 |     552 |   564 |   568 |     581
Infants and toddlers ..............|   --- |   --- |    30 |    34 |    37 |    51 |    66 |    75 |    92 |   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- |     ---
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
                                   |                               Percentage distribution of children served
                                   |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   All disabilities ...............| 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |   100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |   100.0
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
Specific learning disabilities ....|  21.5 |  35.3 |  43.4 |  43.8 |  44.2 |  44.7 |  45.2 |  46.0 |  45.4 |  46.3 |  46.3 |    46.2 |  46.2 |  46.1 |    45.7
Speech or language impairments ....|  35.2 |  28.2 |  21.4 |  21.3 |  21.0 |  20.7 |  20.2 |  19.5 |  19.1 |  18.9 |  18.3 |    18.2 |  17.9 |  17.6 |    17.4
Mental retardation ................|  26.0 |  20.0 |  13.1 |  12.4 |  11.8 |  11.2 |  10.9 |  10.1 |  10.1 |  10.3 |  10.2 |    10.1 |  10.0 |   9.9 |     9.7
Serious emotional disturbance .....|   7.7 |   8.4 |   8.4 |   8.2 |   8.2 |   8.2 |   8.1 |   7.8 |   7.8 |   7.9 |   7.9 |     7.8 |   7.7 |   7.6 |     7.6
Hearing impairments ...............|   2.4 |   1.9 |   1.3 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |     1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |     1.1
Orthopedic impairments ............|   2.4 |   1.4 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.1 |   1.1 |   1.1 |     1.2 |   1.1 |   1.1 |     1.1
Other health impairments ..........|   3.8 |   2.4 |   1.0 |   1.1 |   1.1 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.3 |   1.5 |   2.0 |   2.4 |     2.8 |   3.2 |   3.7 |     4.1
Visual impairments ................|   1.0 |   0.7 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.4 |   0.5 |   0.4 |   0.4 |     0.4 |   0.4 |   0.4 |     0.4
Multiple disabilities .............|   --- |   1.6 |   1.7 |   1.8 |   1.9 |   2.0 |   2.0 |   2.0 |   2.0 |   1.6 |   1.7 |     1.7 |   1.8 |   1.8 |     1.8
Deaf-blindness ....................|   --- |   0.1 | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) |   (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) |   (\3\)
Autism and traumatic brain injury .|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   0.1 |   0.4 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.7 |     0.8 |   0.9 |   1.1 |     1.3
Developmental delay ...............|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     --- |   0.1 |   0.2 |     0.3
Preschool disabled\2\..............|   5.3 |   5.6 |   7.5 |   7.9 |   8.2 |   8.2 |   8.4 |   8.8 |   9.2 |   9.7 |   9.8 |     9.6 |   9.6 |   9.4 |     9.4
Infants and toddlers ..............|   --- |   --- |   0.7 |   0.8 |   0.8 |   1.1 |   1.3 |   1.5 |   1.7 |   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- |     ---
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
                                   |                              Number served as a percent of total enrollment\4\        |         |       |       |
                                   |_______________________________________________________________________________________|_________|_______|_______|_________
   All disabilities ...............|  8.32 | 10.14 | 11.02 | 11.18 | 11.32 | 11.43 | 11.59 | 11.76 | 12.00 | 12.19 | 12.43 |   12.56 | 12.80 | 13.01 |   13.22
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________
Specific learning disabilities ....|  1.80 |  3.58 |  4.82 |  4.94 |  5.05 |  5.17 |  5.31 |  5.49 |  5.54 |  5.64 |  5.75 |    5.81 |  5.91 |  5.99 |    6.05
Speech or language impairments ....|  2.94 |  2.86 |  2.37 |  2.40 |  2.40 |  2.39 |  2.37 |  2.32 |  2.33 |  2.30 |  2.28 |    2.29 |  2.29 |  2.29 |    2.30
Mental retardation ................|  2.17 |  2.03 |  1.45 |  1.39 |  1.35 |  1.30 |  1.28 |  1.21 |  1.23 |  1.26 |  1.27 |    1.27 |  1.28 |  1.28 |    1.28
Serious emotional disturbance .....|  0.64 |  0.85 |  0.93 |  0.93 |  0.94 |  0.95 |  0.95 |  0.93 |  0.95 |  0.97 |  0.98 |    0.98 |  0.98 |  0.99 |    1.00
Hearing impairments ...............|  0.20 |  0.19 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.15 |  0.15 |  0.15 |    0.15 |  0.15 |  0.15 |    0.15
Orthopedic impairments ............|  0.20 |  0.14 |  0.11 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.13 |  0.14 |  0.14 |    0.14 |  0.15 |  0.15 |    0.15
Other health impairments ..........|  0.32 |  0.24 |  0.11 |  0.12 |  0.13 |  0.13 |  0.14 |  0.15 |  0.19 |  0.24 |  0.30 |    0.35 |  0.41 |  0.47 |    0.54
Visual impairments ................|  0.09 |  0.08 |  0.05 |  0.05 |  0.05 |  0.06 |  0.06 |  0.05 |  0.06 |  0.05 |  0.06 |    0.05 |  0.05 |  0.06 |    0.06
Multiple disabilities .............|   --- |  0.17 |  0.19 |  0.21 |  0.21 |  0.23 |  0.23 |  0.24 |  0.25 |  0.20 |  0.21 |    0.21 |  0.23 |  0.23 |    0.24
Deaf-blindness ....................|   --- |  0.01 | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) |   (\5\) | (\5\) | (\5\) |   (\5\)
Autism and traumatic brain injury .|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |  0.01 |  0.04 |  0.06 |  0.07 |  0.09 |    0.10 |  0.12 |  0.14 |    0.17
Developmental delay ...............|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     --- |  0.01 |  0.03 |    0.04
Preschool disabled\2\..............|  0.44 |  0.57 |  0.83 |  0.89 |  0.94 |  0.95 |  0.99 |  1.05 |  1.12 |  1.18 |  1.21 |    1.21 |  1.22 |  1.22 |    1.24
Infants and toddlers ..............|   --- |   --- |  0.07 |  0.08 |  0.09 |  0.12 |  0.16 |  0.18 |  0.21 |   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- |     ---
___________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________

---Not available.
\1\Includes students served under Chapter I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), formerly the Education of the Handicapped Act. Prior to October 1994, children and youth with disabilities were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, and Chapter 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In October 1994, Congress passed the Improving America's Schools Act in which funding for children and youth with disabilities was consolidated under IDEA, Part B. Data reported in this table for years prior to 1993-94 include children ages 0-21 served under Chapter 1. Data reported in this table for years after 1993-94 reflect children ages 3-21 served under IDEA, Part B.
\2\Includes preschool children 3-5 years served under Chapter I and IDEA, Part B. Prior to 1987-88, these students were included in the counts by disability condition. Beginning in 1987-88, states were no longer required to report preschool children (0-5 years) by disability condition.
\3\Less than 0.05 percent.
\4\Based on the enrollment in public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, including a relatively small number of prekindergarten students.
\5\Less than .005 percent.

NOTE: Counts are based on reports from the 50 states and District of Columbia only (i.e., figures from outlying areas are not included). Increases since 1987-88 are due in part to new legislation enacted fall 1986, which mandates public school special education services for all disabled children ages 3 through 5. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, various years, and unpublished tabulations; and National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data survey. (This table was prepared April 2001.)

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