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Digest of Education Statistics
2010 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 45. Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, by type of disability: Selected years, 1976-77 through 2008-09
Type of disability 1976-77 1980-81 1990-91 1995-96 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-081 2008-091
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 6,056 6,195 6,296 6,407 6,523 6,634 6,719 6,713 6,686 6,606 6,483
Autism 28 53 65 94 114 137 163 191 223 258 296 336
Deaf-blindness 3 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Developmental delay 12 19 178 242 283 305 332 339 333 358 354
Emotional disturbance 283 347 389 437 462 469 481 483 485 489 489 477 464 442 420
Hearing impairments 88 79 58 67 70 71 78 78 78 79 79 79 80 79 78
Intellectual disability 961 830 534 571 597 600 624 616 602 593 578 556 534 500 478
Multiple disabilities 68 96 93 106 111 133 136 138 140 140 141 142 138 130
Orthopedic impairments 87 58 49 63 69 71 83 83 83 77 73 71 69 67 70
Other health impairments2  141 98 55 133 220 253 303 350 403 464 521 570 611 641 659
Preschool disabled3 390 544 568 581
Specific learning disabilities 796 1,462 2,129 2,578 2,790 2,834 2,868 2,861 2,848 2,831 2,798 2,735 2,665 2,573 2,476
Speech or language impairments 1,302 1,168 985 1,022 1,068 1,080 1,409 1,391 1,412 1,441 1,463 1,468 1,475 1,456 1,426
Traumatic brain injury 9 13 14 16 22 22 23 24 24 25 25 26
Visual impairments 38 31 23 25 26 26 29 28 29 28 29 29 29 29 29
  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 0.9 1.0 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.5 2.8 3.3 3.9 4.5 5.2
Deaf-blindness 0.1 # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Developmental delay 0.2 0.3 2.8 3.8 4.3 4.6 4.9 5.1 5.0 5.4 5.5
Emotional disturbance 7.7 8.4 8.3 7.8 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.5
Hearing impairments 2.4 1.9 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 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 9.7 9.9 9.6 9.2 8.9 8.6 8.3 8.0 7.6 7.4
Multiple disabilities 1.6 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0
Orthopedic impairments 2.4 1.4 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.1
Other health impairments2  3.8 2.4 1.2 2.4 3.6 4.1 4.8 5.5 6.2 7.0 7.7 8.5 9.1 9.7 10.2
Preschool disabled3 8.3 9.8 9.4 9.4
Specific learning disabilities 21.5 35.3 45.2 46.3 46.1 45.7 45.5 44.7 43.7 42.7 41.6 40.7 39.9 39.0 38.2
Speech or language impairments 35.2 28.2 20.9 18.3 17.6 17.4 22.4 21.7 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.9 22.1 22.0 22.0
Traumatic brain injury 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Visual impairments 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
  Number served as a percent of total enrollment4 
All disabilities 8.3 10.1 11.4 12.4 13.0 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.7 13.8 13.7 13.6 13.4 13.2
Autism 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7
Deaf-blindness # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Developmental delay # # 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7
Emotional disturbance 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9
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 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0
Multiple disabilities 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 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 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
Other health impairments2  0.3 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3
Preschool disabled3 0.9 1.2 1.2 1.2
Specific learning disabilities 1.8 3.6 5.2 5.8 6.0 6.0 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.4 5.2 5.0
Speech or language impairments 2.9 2.9 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 3.0 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9
Traumatic brain injury # # # # # # # # # 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 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.
3 Prior to 1990-91 and after 1999-2000, preschool children are included in the counts by disability condition. For other years, preschool children are not included in the counts by disability condition, but are separately reported.
4 Based 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 disabled children. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. 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 September 13, 2010, from http://www.ideadata.org/PartBdata.asp. National Center for Education Statistics, Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1977 and 1980; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1990-91 through 2008–09. (This table was prepared September 2010.)

2010 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest