Children 3 to 21 years old served in federally supported programs for the disabled, by type of disability: Selected years, 1976-77 to 2001-02

Table 52.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                   |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |         |       |       |         |       |
        Type of disability         |1976-77|1980-81|1989-90|1990-91|1991-92|1992-93|1993-94|1994-95|1995-96| 1996-97 |1997-98|1998-99|1999-2000|2000-01|2001-02
___________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______
                 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|  4,594|  4,710|  4,875|  5,036|  5,216|  5,378|  5,573|    5,730|  5,903|  6,055|    6,190|  6,296|  6,407
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______
Specific learning disabilities ....|    796|  1,462|  2,047|  2,129|  2,232|  2,351|  2,408|  2,489|  2,579|    2,649|  2,725|  2,789|    2,830|  2,843|  2,846
Speech or language impairments ....|  1,302|  1,168|    971|    985|    996|    994|  1,014|  1,015|  1,022|    1,043|  1,056|  1,068|    1,078|  1,084|  1,084
Mental retardation ................|    961|    830|    547|    535|    537|    518|    536|    555|    570|      579|    589|    597|      600|    599|    592
Emotional disturbance .............|    283|    347|    380|    390|    399|    400|    414|    427|    438|      445|    453|    462|      468|    473|    476
Hearing impairments ...............|     88|     79|     57|     58|     60|     60|     64|     64|     67|       68|     69|     70|       70|     70|     70
Orthopedic impairments ............|     87|     58|     48|     49|     51|     52|     56|     60|     63|       66|     67|     69|       71|     72|     73
Other health impairments ..........|    141|     98|     52|     55|     58|     65|     82|    106|    133|      160|    190|    221|      254|    292|    337
Visual impairments ................|     38|     31|     22|     23|     24|     23|     24|     24|     25|       25|     25|     26|       26|     25|     25
Multiple disabilities .............|   --- |     68|     86|     96|     97|    102|    108|     88|     93|       98|    106|    106|      111|    121|    127
Deaf-blindness ....................|   --- |      3|      2|      1|      1|      1|      1|      1|      1|        1|      1|      2|        2|      1|      2
Autism and traumatic brain injury .|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |      5|     19|     24|     29|     39|       44|     54|     67|       80|     94|    118
Developmental delay ...............|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     --- |      4|     12|       19|     28|     45
Preschool disabled\1\..............|   --- |   --- |    381|    390|    416|    450|    486|    519|    544|      552|    564|    568|      582|    592|    612
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______
                                   |                               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|   44.6|   45.2|   45.8|   46.7|   46.2|   46.3|   46.3|     46.2|   46.2|   46.1|     45.7|   45.2|   44.4
Speech or language impairments ....|   35.2|   28.2|   21.1|   20.9|   20.4|   19.7|   19.4|   18.9|   18.3|     18.2|   17.9|   17.6|     17.4|   17.2|   16.9
Mental retardation ................|   26.0|   20.0|   11.9|   11.4|   11.0|   10.3|   10.3|   10.3|   10.2|     10.1|   10.0|    9.9|      9.7|    9.5|    9.2
Emotional disturbance .............|    7.7|    8.4|    8.3|    8.3|    8.2|    7.9|    7.9|    7.9|    7.9|      7.8|    7.7|    7.6|      7.6|    7.5|    7.4
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|      1.1|    1.1|    1.1
Orthopedic impairments ............|    2.4|    1.4|    1.0|    1.0|    1.0|    1.0|    1.1|    1.1|    1.1|      1.2|    1.1|    1.1|      1.1|    1.1|    1.1
Other health impairments ..........|    3.8|    2.4|    1.1|    1.2|    1.2|    1.3|    1.6|    2.0|    2.4|      2.8|    3.2|    3.6|      4.1|    4.6|    5.3
Visual impairments ................|    1.0|    0.7|    0.5|    0.5|    0.5|    0.5|    0.5|    0.4|    0.4|      0.4|    0.4|    0.4|      0.4|    0.4|    0.4
Multiple disabilities .............|   --- |    1.6|    1.9|    2.0|    2.0|    2.0|    2.1|    1.6|    1.7|      1.7|    1.8|    1.8|      1.8|    1.9|    2.0
Deaf-blindness ....................|   --- |    0.1|     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |       # |     # |     # |       # |     # |     #
Autism and traumatic brain injury .|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |    0.1|    0.4|    0.5|    0.5|    0.7|      0.8|    0.9|    1.1|      1.3|    1.5|    1.8
Developmental delay ...............|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     --- |    0.1|    0.2|      0.3|    0.4|    0.7
Preschool disabled\1\..............|   --- |   --- |    8.3|    8.3|    8.5|    8.9|    9.3|    9.7|    9.8|      9.6|    9.6|    9.4|      9.4|    9.4|    9.6
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______
                                   |                     Number served as a percent of total enrollment\2\
                                   |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   All disabilities ...............|    8.3|   10.1|   11.3|   11.4|   11.6|   11.8|   12.0|   12.2|   12.4|     12.6|   12.8|   13.0|     13.2|   13.3|   13.4
                                   |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______
Specific learning disabilities ....|    1.8|    3.6|    5.0|    5.2|    5.3|    5.5|    5.5|    5.6|    5.8|      5.8|    5.9|    6.0|      6.0|    6.0|    6.0
Speech or language impairments ....|    2.9|    2.9|    2.4|    2.4|    2.4|    2.3|    2.3|    2.3|    2.3|      2.3|    2.3|    2.3|      2.3|    2.3|    2.3
Mental retardation ................|    2.2|    2.0|    1.3|    1.3|    1.3|    1.2|    1.2|    1.3|    1.3|      1.3|    1.3|    1.3|      1.3|    1.3|    1.2
Emotional disturbance .............|    0.6|    0.8|    0.9|    0.9|    0.9|    0.9|    1.0|    1.0|    1.0|      1.0|    1.0|    1.0|      1.0|    1.0|    1.0
Hearing impairments ...............|    0.2|    0.2|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|      0.1|    0.1|    0.2|      0.1|    0.1|    0.1
Orthopedic impairments ............|    0.2|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|      0.1|    0.1|    0.1|      0.2|    0.2|    0.2
Other health impairments ..........|    0.3|    0.2|    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|    0.3|      0.4|    0.4|    0.5|      0.5|    0.6|    0.7
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
Multiple disabilities .............|   --- |    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|    0.2|      0.2|    0.2|    0.2|      0.2|    0.3|    0.3
Deaf-blindness ....................|   --- |     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |     # |       # |     # |     # |       # |     # |     #
Autism and traumatic brain injury .|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     # |     # |    0.1|    0.1|    0.1|      0.1|    0.1|    0.1|      0.2|    0.2|    0.2
Developmental delay ...............|   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |   --- |     --- |     # |     # |       # |    0.1|    0.1
Preschool disabled\1\..............|   --- |   --- |    0.9|    0.9|    1.0|    1.1|    1.1|    1.2|    1.2|      1.2|    1.2|    1.2|      1.2|    1.3|    1.3
___________________________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______

---Not available.
# Rounds to zero.
\1\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.
\2\Based on the total enrollment in public schools, kindergarten through 12th grade, including a relatively small number of prekindergarten students.

NOTE: 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. Counts are based on reports from the 50 states and the 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 in fall 1986, which mandates public school special education services for all disabled children ages 3 through 5, in addition to age groups previously mandated. 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, Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, various years, and The NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1989-90 through 2001-02. (This table was prepared July 2003.)

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