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Digest of Education Statistics
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  • Table 51.Children 0 to 21 years old served in federally supported programs for the disabled, by type of disability: 1976-77 to 1993-94

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
           Type of disability        |1976-77|1980-81|1982-83|1983-84|1984-85|1985-86|1986-87|1987-88|1988-89|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94
    ---------------------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
                    1                |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |  10   |  11   |  12   |  13   |  14   |  15
    ---------------------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
                                     |                                   Number served,\1\ in thousands
                                     |------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       All disabilities .............| 3,692 | 4,142 | 4,255 | 4,298 | 4,315 | 4,317 | 4,374 | 4,447 | 4,544 | 4,641 | 4,762 | 4,949 | 5,125 | 5,318
                                     |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
    Specific learning disabilities ..|   796 | 1,462 | 1,741 | 1,806 | 1,832 | 1,862 | 1,914 | 1,928 | 1,987 | 2,050 | 2,130 | 2,234 | 2,354 | 2,424
    Speech or language impairments ..| 1,302 | 1,168 | 1,131 | 1,128 | 1,126 | 1,125 | 1,136 |   953 |   967 |   973 |   985 |   997 |   996 | 1,005
    Mental retardation ..............|   959 |   829 |   757 |   727 |   694 |   660 |   643 |   582 |   564 |   548 |   534 |   538 |   519 |   536
    Serious emotional disturbance ...|   283 |   346 |   352 |   361 |   372 |   375 |   383 |   373 |   376 |   381 |   390 |   399 |   401 |   413
    Hearing impairments .............|    87 |    79 |    73 |    72 |    69 |    66 |    65 |    56 |    56 |    57 |    58 |    60 |    60 |    63
    Orthopedic impairments ..........|    87 |    58 |    57 |    56 |    56 |    57 |    57 |    47 |    47 |    48 |    49 |    51 |    52 |    56
    Other health impairments ........|   141 |    98 |    50 |    53 |    68 |    57 |    52 |    45 |    43 |    52 |    55 |    58 |    65 |    82
    Visual impairments ..............|    38 |    31 |    28 |    29 |    28 |    27 |    26 |    22 |    23 |    22 |    23 |    24 |    23 |    24
    Multiple disabilities ...........|   --- |    68 |    63 |    65 |    69 |    86 |    97 |    77 |    85 |    86 |    96 |    97 |   102 |   108
    Deaf-blindness ..................|   --- |     3 |     2 |     2 |     2 |     2 |     2 |     1 |     2 |     2 |     1 |     1 |     1 |     1
    Autism and other ................|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     5 |    19 |    24
    Preschool disabled \2\...........| (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) |   363 |   394 |   422 |   441 |   484 |   531 |   582
                                     |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
                                     |                               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
                                     |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
    Specific learning disabilities ..|  21.6 |  35.3 |  40.9 |  42.0 |  42.4 |  43.1 |  43.8 |  43.4 |  43.6 |  44.2 |  44.7 |  45.1 |  45.9 |  45.6
    Speech or language impairments ..|  35.3 |  28.2 |  26.6 |  26.2 |  26.1 |  26.1 |  26.0 |  21.4 |  21.1 |  21.0 |  20.7 |  20.2 |  19.4 |  18.9
    Mental retardation ..............|  26.0 |  20.0 |  17.8 |  16.9 |  16.1 |  15.3 |  14.7 |  13.1 |  12.7 |  11.8 |  11.2 |  10.9 |  10.1 |  10.1
    Serious emotional disturbance ...|   7.7 |   8.4 |   8.3 |   8.4 |   8.6 |   8.7 |   8.8 |   8.4 |   8.3 |   8.2 |   8.2 |   8.1 |   7.8 |   7.8
    Hearing impairments .............|   2.4 |   1.9 |   1.7 |   1.7 |   1.6 |   1.5 |   1.5 |   1.3 |   1.3 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.2
    Orthopedic impairments ..........|   2.4 |   1.4 |   1.3 |   1.3 |   1.3 |   1.3 |   1.3 |   1.1 |   1.1 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.1
    Other health impairments ........|   3.8 |   2.4 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.6 |   1.3 |   1.2 |   1.0 |   1.0 |   1.1 |   1.2 |   1.2 |   1.3 |   1.5
    Visual impairments ..............|   1.0 |   0.7 |   0.7 |   0.7 |   0.7 |   0.6 |   0.6 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5 |   0.5
    Multiple disabilities ...........|   --- |   1.6 |   1.5 |   1.5 |   1.6 |   2.0 |   2.2 |   1.7 |   1.8 |   1.9 |   2.0 |   2.0 |   2.0 |   2.0
    Deaf-blindness ..................|   --- |   0.1 | (\4\) |   0.1 | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\) | (\4\)
    Autism and other ................|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   0.1 |   0.4 |   0.4
    Preschool disabled \2\...........| (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) |   8.2 |   8.7 |   9.1 |   9.3 |   9.8 |  10.4 |  10.9
                                     |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
                                     |                              Number served as a percent of total enrollment\5\
                                     |---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       All disabilities .............|  8.33 | 10.13 | 10.75 | 10.95 | 11.00 | 10.95 | 11.00 | 11.11 | 11.30 | 11.44 | 11.55 | 11.77 | 11.97 | 12.23
                                     |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------
    Specific learning disabilities ..|  1.80 |  3.58 |  4.40 |  4.60 |  4.67 |  4.72 |  4.81 |  4.82 |  4.94 |  5.06 |  5.17 |  5.31 |  5.50 |  5.57
    Speech or language impairments ..|  2.94 |  2.86 |  2.86 |  2.87 |  2.87 |  2.85 |  2.86 |  2.38 |  2.41 |  2.40 |  2.39 |  2.37 |  2.33 |  2.31
    Mental retardation ..............|  2.16 |  2.03 |  1.91 |  1.85 |  1.77 |  1.68 |  1.62 |  1.45 |  1.40 |  1.35 |  1.30 |  1.28 |  1.21 |  1.23
    Serious emotional disturbance ...|  0.64 |  0.85 |  0.89 |  0.92 |  0.95 |  0.95 |  0.96 |  0.93 |  0.94 |  0.94 |  0.95 |  0.95 |  0.94 |  0.95
    Hearing impairments .............|  0.20 |  0.19 |  0.18 |  0.18 |  0.18 |  0.17 |  0.16 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.15
    Orthopedic impairments ..........|  0.20 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.14 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.12 |  0.13
    Other health impairments ........|  0.32 |  0.24 |  0.13 |  0.13 |  0.17 |  0.14 |  0.13 |  0.11 |  0.11 |  0.13 |  0.13 |  0.14 |  0.15 |  0.19
    Visual impairments ..............|  0.09 |  0.08 |  0.07 |  0.07 |  0.07 |  0.07 |  0.07 |  0.05 |  0.06 |  0.06 |  0.06 |  0.06 |  0.05 |  0.06
    Multiple disabilities ...........|   --- |  0.17 |  0.16 |  0.17 |  0.17 |  0.22 |  0.24 |  0.19 |  0.21 |  0.21 |  0.23 |  0.23 |  0.24 |  0.25
    Deaf-blindness ..................|   --- |  0.01 |  0.01 |  0.01 | (\6\) |  0.01 | (\6\) | (\6\) | (\6\) | (\6\) | (\6\) | (\6\) | (\6\) | (\6\)
    Autism and other ................|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |  0.01 |  0.04 |  0.05
    Preschool disabled \2\...........| (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) | (\3\) |  0.91 |  0.98 |  1.04 |  1.07 |  1.15 |  1.24 |  1.34
    ---------------------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------

    \1\Includes students served under Chapter I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), formerly the Education of the Handicapped Act.

    \2\Includes preschool children 3-5 years and 0-5 years served under Chapter I and IDEA, respectively.

    \3\Prior to 1987-88, these students were included in the counts by handicapping condition. Beginning in 1987-88, states were no longer required to report preschool handicapped students (0-5 years) by handicapping condition.

    \4\Less than .05 percent.

    \5\Based on the enrollment in public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, including a relatively small number of prekindergarten students.

    \6\Less than .005 percent.

    ---Data not available.

    NOTE.--Counts are based on reports from the 50 states and District of Columbia only (i.e., figures from U.S. territories 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 handicapped children ages 3 through 5. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Because of rounding, details may not add to totals.

    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 1996.)

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