Disability Information

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, a student has ADHD and is doing well in school, the student might not be covered by IDEA.