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What Are the Qualifying Disability Categories Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?

Laura Ritter, BA, MA

May 11, 2020

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Question

What are the qualifying disability categories under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?

Answer

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  • Intellectual Disability (ID)
  • Deaf-Blindness
  • Deafness
  • Emotional Disturbance (ED)
  • Hearing Impairment (HI)
  • Multiple Disabilities
  • Orthopedic Impairment (OI)
  • Other Health Impairment (OHI)
  • Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
  • Speech or Language Impairment
  • Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
  • Visual Impairment (VI)
    • Includes Blindness

The legal guidelines that the school system follows are classified under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). There are 13 qualifying disability categories to identify for special education services and to receive an IEP. Remember we're talking about a child who is three years old or older. The team has decided that the child's going to need continued services or this might be referring to a child that hasn't had services before. If it's a child who hasn't had services yet there would be an initial evaluation and the team would try to determine whether the student meets one of these 13 IDEA categories. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), every child has a legal right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE). 

This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, IEP and IFSP 101: Everything You Need to Know - Planning to Implementation, by Laura Ritter, BA, MA.

laura ritter

Laura Ritter, BA, MA

Laura Ritter has worked passionately with individuals with disabilities for over 20 years. She specializes in the field of special education. She has been an instructor and administrator at the elementary school, high school, and post-high school age levels. 

She has served as a special education teacher, homebound educator, tutor, and educational consultant in the Orlando and Indianapolis areas. She works with students, families, and colleagues to develop IEP plans that meet the unique needs of her students.

As a director at an agency for adults with disabilities, located near Indianapolis, she developed Individual Support Plans for numerous participants and supervised case management, behavior management, and classroom instructors. In addition, she developed training sessions for those with disabilities on topics such as life skills, resume building, and job interview preparation.  

She has been a professor at the University of Phoenix for five years, currently teaching a variety of classes in teacher preparation and has served as a student teaching mentor for the education department. Laura looks forward to sharing her knowledge with other educators on the IEP and IFSP process.

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