The 13 Categories of IDEA: What Conditions Can Qualify My Student for Special Education?
All students are entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). While the general education model achieves a FAPE for some students, many others require special education to receive a fair learning environment. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) protects the rights of students with certain disabilities by mandating their access to special education and related services. However, not every child with a disability is eligible for special education under IDEA. To be deemed eligible, a child must have a diagnosis identified by their healthcare provider, or a disability identified by a district evaluator, with evidence that their condition impairs their education. Eligible students can qualify for an Individualized Education Program (IEP) under one of 13 categories recognized under IDEA (14 categories in California).
The 13 categories of IDEA include:
1. Specific learning disability (SLD)
SLDs are a specific group of learning challenges that can negatively affect a child’s ability to read, speak, write, reason, or compute math. Common examples include:
Dyslexia – difficulty reading and interpreting words, letters, and symbols
Dyscalculia – struggles with math functions, such as number-related concepts, problem solving, or understanding and choosing correct math operations
Dysgraphia – difficulty composing written communications
*Reminder: An SLD diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
2. Other health impairment (OHI)
OHI covers conditions that limit a student’s strength, vitality, attention span, energy, alertness, and/or executive functioning. Examples of diagnoses recognized in OHI include:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Asthma
Diabetes
Tourette’s Syndrome
Leukemia
Heart Conditions
Rheumatic fever
Sickle cell anemia
*Reminder: A medical diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
Click here for tips on preparing students with
chronic illness for success at school
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3. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
ASD is a neurological and developmental disorder that can impact how a student communicates, learns, behaves, processes sensory stimuli, and socially interacts. The variety and severity of symptoms among students with ASD can present several obstacles to learning in a typical classroom setting.
*Reminder: An autism diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
Click here to learn more about autism in toddlers
Click here to learn more about autism in teens
4. Emotional disturbance
To be eligible in this category, the student must exhibit one or more of the following for a prolonged time and to a marked degree: an inability to learn that can’t be explained by other intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory relationships with teachers and peers; a pervasive unhappy or depressed mood; the development of physical symptoms or fears related to personal or school problems; and/or showing inappropriate behaviors and feelings under normal circumstances.
Examples of conditions recognized under the emotional disturbance category include:
Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Eating Disorders
Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia
Bipolar Disorder
Conduct disorders such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Is your student struggling with behavioral challenges at school? Click here to learn how FBAs and BIPs can help
*Reminder: A diagnosis related to the emotional disturbance category does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
5. Speech or language impairment
This category includes students who struggle to learn due to deficits in verbal communication. Examples include speech impairments such as stuttering, language impairments such as receptive or expressive language disorders, social pragmatic communication disorder, or voice impairments such as vocal cord paralysis or muscle spasms.
*Reminder: A speech or language disorder diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
6. Visual impairment, including blindness
Students who have impaired eyesight can qualify for special education, whether they are partially or completely blind. However, they may not qualify if corrective lenses can restore adequate vision. A doctor specializing in vision-related learning problems can assess whether the student has a condition that impedes their learning regardless of visual acuity, such as strabismus or visual processing disorder.
*Reminder: A visual impairment diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
7. Deafness
Students recognized in this category struggle with severe hearing impairments resulting in little to no functional hearing ability. These students cannot process auditory information with or without amplification and/or auditory devices such as hearing aids.
*Reminder: A deaf diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
8. Hearing impairment
The hearing impairment category includes students who have a level of impaired hearing that impacts their ability to learn, but does not meet the severity of a deafness diagnosis. This category covers students with both permanent or fluctuating hearing loss.
*Reminder: A hearing impairment diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
9. Deaf-blindness
Students in this category experience extensive vision and hearing loss that cannot be remedied with eyewear and auditory devices. Because kids with both deafness and blindness have uniquely complex needs that cannot be met by programs just for deaf or blind students, they have received their own disability category under IDEA.
10. Orthopedic impairment
Orthopedic impairments refer to a lack of bone or muscle function, resulting from conditions such as paralysis, congenital anomalies, loss of limb(s), contractures from burns or fractures, or diseases including cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, bone tuberculosis, or poliomyelitis.
*Reminder: An orthopedic impairment diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
11. Intellectual disability
This category covers students who demonstrate significantly below-average intellectual abilities for their developmental stage, along with deficits in adaptive behavior (social and practical behaviors required to function in everyday life).
12. Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
TBI is a brain injury caused by physical force that results in partial or total loss of cognitive and/or psychosocial function. TBI can change how a student thinks, acts, and physically functions. Common symptoms among students with TBI include impairments in abstract thinking, memory and retention, reasoning, focus and maintaining consciousness, mood regulation, problem solving, and balance.
*Reminder: A TBI diagnosis does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
13. Multiple disabilities
When a student has more than one disability, their needs exceed special education programs that are designed specifically for one of the other categories. Consequently, IDEA recognizes students with multiple disabilities in their own category, requiring adapted combinations of specialized instruction, services, and placements to meet their complex needs.
*Reminder: Receiving diagnoses for multiple disabilities does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects academic performance.
14. California specific: Established Medical Disability
While the 13 categories describe above reflect what is stated in the Federal law, some states also have a 14th category added to their education code. Being that Variations Psychology is located in California, we will touch on California’s 14th category: Established Medical Disability (EMD). This category is only applicable for children aged 3-5, and refers to a medical condition or congenital syndrome that the IEP team determines to have a high likelihood of requiring special education and services. Children with Down Syndrome often qualify for special education under this category in California.
*Reminder: Diagnosis of a medical condition or congenital syndrome does not automatically qualify a student for special education. To be considered eligible, a qualified evaluator must identify how their condition produces an academic impairment or adversely affects learning.
Securing special education for your child or teen
If your student has a diagnosis that may qualify them for special education under any of these categories, the first step to seeking support is having them evaluated by an Educational Specialist. Our doctors conduct comprehensive testing to provide a specific, evidence-backed opinion on which category(s) the student is eligible for under IDEA within the California education code. Our reports provide recommendations for accommodations, modifications, and educational placements to provide a roadmap for the student’s optimal academic success.
It is also important to note that even if your child’s diagnosis does not fall within the 13 categories of IDEA, they may be eligible for 504 Plan support. Our Doctors can guide you in seeking the best options to meet your student’s unique needs.
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More about Variations Psychology
Variations Psychology is a group practice specializing in diagnostic testing to identify psychological conditions.
Our comprehensive evaluations test for conditions that impact mental health and development such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, depression, anxiety, learning disorders, and developmental delays.
In addition to diagnostic services, we offer Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs) of K-12 students to assess needs for accommodations in school and determine their appropriate placements. IEEs provide an objective second opinion on existing IEP and 504 Plans.
For K-12 and post-secondary students, we offer evaluations to assess needs for accommodations on standardized tests, college entrance exams (e.g. - SAT, ACT, AP Exams), and graduate and professional licensing exams (e.g. - MCAT, LSAT, GRE, CBEST, NCLEX, GMAT, CA Cosmetology Exam, CA Contractors State Licensing Exam, CA Bar Exam).
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 (2004)
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How to Cite This Blog Article:
Shinn. M.M. (2022). The 13 Categories of IDEA: What Conditions Can Qualify My Student for Special Education? Psychologically Speaking. [Variations Psychology blog post]. Retrieved from www.variationspsychology.com/blogs/the-13-categories-of-idea-what-conditions-can-qualify-my-student-for-special-education