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Digest of Education Statistics: 2012
Digest of Education Statistics: 2012

NCES 2014-015
December 2013


Table 48. Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, by type of disability: Selected years, 1976-77 through 2010-11
Type of disability 1976-77 1980-81 1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-081 2008-091 2009-10 2010-112
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
  Number served (in thousands)
All disabilities 3,694 4,144 4,710 5,572 6,296 6,407 6,523 6,634 6,719 6,713 6,686 6,606 6,483 6,481 6,419
Autism 28 94 114 137 163 191 223 258 296 336 378 417
Deaf-blindness 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1
Developmental delay 178 242 283 305 332 339 333 358 354 368 381
Emotional disturbance 283 347 389 437 481 483 485 489 489 477 464 442 420 407 389
Hearing impairments 88 79 58 67 78 78 78 79 79 79 80 79 78 79 78
Intellectual disability 961 830 534 571 624 616 602 593 578 556 534 500 478 463 447
Multiple disabilities 68 96 93 133 136 138 140 140 141 142 138 130 131 130
Orthopedic impairments 87 58 49 63 83 83 83 77 73 71 69 67 70 65 63
Other health impairments3 141 98 55 133 303 350 403 464 521 570 611 641 659 689 714
Preschool disabled4 390 544
Specific learning disabilities 796 1,462 2,129 2,578 2,868 2,861 2,848 2,831 2,798 2,735 2,665 2,573 2,476 2,431 2357
Speech or language impairments 1,302 1,168 985 1,022 1,409 1,391 1,412 1,441 1,463 1,468 1,475 1,456 1,426 1,416 1390
Traumatic brain injury 9 16 22 22 23 24 24 25 25 26 25 26
Visual impairments 38 31 23 25 29 28 29 28 29 29 29 29 29 29 28
  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
Autism 0.5 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.5 2.8 3.3 3.9 4.5 5.2 5.8 6.5
Deaf-blindness 0.1 # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Developmental delay 2.8 3.8 4.3 4.6 4.9 5.1 5.0 5.4 5.5 5.7 5.9
Emotional disturbance 7.7 8.4 8.3 7.8 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.5 6.3 6.1
Hearing impairments 2.4 1.9 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
Intellectual disability 26.0 20.0 11.3 10.2 9.9 9.6 9.2 8.9 8.6 8.3 8.0 7.6 7.4 7.1 7.0
Multiple disabilities 1.6 2.0 1.7 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0
Orthopedic impairments 2.4 1.4 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0
Other health impairments3 3.8 2.4 1.2 2.4 4.8 5.5 6.2 7.0 7.7 8.5 9.1 9.7 10.2 10.6 11.1
Preschool disabled4 8.3 9.8
Specific learning disabilities 21.5 35.3 45.2 46.3 45.5 44.7 43.7 42.7 41.6 40.7 39.9 39.0 38.2 37.5 36.7
Speech or language impairments 35.2 28.2 20.9 18.3 22.4 21.7 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.9 22.1 22.0 22.0 21.8 21.7
Traumatic brain injury 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Visual impairments 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
  Number served as a percent of total enrollment5
All disabilities 8.3 10.1 11.4 12.4 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.7 13.8 13.7 13.6 13.4 13.2 13.1 13.0
Autism 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8
Deaf-blindness # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Developmental delay 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8
Emotional disturbance 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8
Hearing impairments 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 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 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9
Multiple disabilities 0.2 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
Orthopedic impairments 0.2 0.1 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
Other health impairments3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4
Preschool disabled4 0.9 1.2
Specific learning disabilities 1.8 3.6 5.2 5.8 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.4 5.2 5.0 4.9 4.8
Speech or language impairments 2.9 2.9 2.4 2.3 3.0 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.8
Traumatic brain injury # # # # # # # 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Visual impairments 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.
1 Data 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.
2 Data do not include Wyoming, for which 2010-11 data were not available. In 2009-10, the total number of 3- to 21-year-olds served in Wyoming was 15,098.
3 Other 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.
4 For 1990-91 and 1995-96, 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.
5 Based on the total enrollment in public schools, prekindergarten through 12th grade. For total enrollment in public schools, see table 39.
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, Office of Special Education Programs, Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, selected years, 1979 through 2006; and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) database, retrieved June 4, 2012, from http://www.ideadata.org/PartBdata.asp. National Center for Education Statistics, Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1977-78 and 1980-81; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1990-91 through 2010–11. (This table was prepared June 2012.)