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Digest of Education Statistics
2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 204.30. Children 3 to 21 years old served under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, by type of disability: Selected years, 1976-77 through 2011-12
Type of disability 1976-77 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-081 2008-091 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
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 6,296 6,407 6,523 6,634 6,720 6,718 6,687 6,597 6,483 6,481 6,436 6,401
Autism 93 114 137 163 191 223 258 296 336 378 417 455
Deaf-blindness 3 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Developmental delay 213 242 283 305 332 339 333 357 354 368 382 393
Emotional disturbance 283 347 389 480 483 485 489 489 477 464 442 420 407 390 373
Hearing impairments 88 79 58 77 78 78 79 79 79 80 79 78 79 78 78
Intellectual disability 961 830 534 624 616 602 593 578 556 534 500 478 463 448 435
Multiple disabilities 68 96 131 136 138 140 140 141 142 138 130 131 130 132
Orthopedic impairments 87 58 49 82 83 83 77 73 71 69 67 70 65 63 61
Other health impairments2 141 98 55 303 350 403 464 521 570 610 641 659 689 716 743
Preschool disabled3 390
Specific learning disabilities 796 1,462 2,129 2,860 2,861 2,848 2,831 2,798 2,740 2,665 2,569 2,476 2,431 2,361 2,303
Speech or language impairments 1,302 1,168 985 1,388 1,391 1,412 1,441 1,463 1,468 1,475 1,454 1,426 1,416 1,396 1,373
Traumatic brain injury 16 22 22 23 24 24 25 25 26 25 26 26
Visual impairments 38 31 23 29 28 29 28 29 29 29 29 29 29 28 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 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.5 2.8 3.3 3.9 4.5 5.2 5.8 6.5 7.1
Deaf-blindness 0.1 # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Developmental delay 3.4 3.8 4.3 4.6 4.9 5.0 5.0 5.4 5.5 5.7 5.9 6.1
Emotional disturbance 7.7 8.4 8.3 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.5 6.3 6.1 5.8
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 9.9 9.6 9.2 8.9 8.6 8.3 8.0 7.6 7.4 7.1 7.0 6.8
Multiple disabilities 1.6 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1
Orthopedic impairments 2.4 1.4 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0
Other health impairments2 3.8 2.4 1.2 4.8 5.5 6.2 7.0 7.7 8.5 9.1 9.7 10.2 10.6 11.1 11.6
Preschool disabled3 8.3
Specific learning disabilities 21.5 35.3 45.2 45.4 44.7 43.7 42.7 41.6 40.8 39.9 38.9 38.2 37.5 36.7 36.0
Speech or language impairments 35.2 28.2 20.9 22.0 21.7 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.8 22.1 22.0 22.0 21.8 21.7 21.4
Traumatic brain injury 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Visual impairments 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.4 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 enrollment4   
All disabilities 8.3 10.1 11.4 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.7 13.8 13.7 13.6 13.4 13.2 13.1 13.0 12.9
Autism 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9
Deaf-blindness # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
Developmental delay 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8
Emotional disturbance 0.6 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8
Hearing impairments 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 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 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9
Multiple disabilities 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 0.3
Orthopedic impairments 0.2 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 0.1
Other health impairments2 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.5
Preschool disabled3 0.9
Specific learning disabilities 1.8 3.6 5.2 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.8 5.7 5.6 5.4 5.2 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.7
Speech or language impairments 2.9 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.8
Traumatic brain injury # # # # # # 0.1 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 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 For 1990-91, 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.
4 Based on the total enrollment in public schools, prekindergarten through 12th grade. For total enrollment in public schools, see table 203.20.
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. 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 March 21, 2013, from http://tadnet.public.tadnet.org/pages/712. 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 2011–12. (This table was prepared April 2013.)

2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest