Services Under IDEA: Who’s Eligible

Not every child is eligible for special education under IDEA, and having a diagnosis doesn’t guarantee eligibility. To qualify, your child must have a disability that falls under one of the 13 categories IDEA covers.

• Autism

• Deaf-blindness

• Deafness

• Emotional disturbance

• Hearing impairment

• Intellectual disability

• Multiple disabilities

• Orthopedic impairment

• Other health impairment (includes ADHD)

• Specific learning disability (includes dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and other learning differences)

• Speech or language impairment

• Traumatic brain injury

• Visual impairment, including blindness

However, having one of these disabilities doesn’t automatically qualify a child under IDEA. To be eligible, a student must: Have a disability and, as a result of that disability…need special education to make progress in school.  For instance, if a student has ADHD and is doing well in school, the student might not be covered by IDEA.