Prevalence of Students in Special

Education

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Prevalence

Prevalence-The TOTAL number of individuals with a particular disability currently existing in the population at a given time.

Prevalence is expressed as a percentage of the population exhibiting a specific exceptionality.

e.g., if the prevalence of learning disabilities is estimated at 5% of the school age population, then we can reasonably assume that 5 out of every 100 students evidence a learning disability.

Prevalence

According to the US Dept of Education, approximately six million U.S. students (5,541, 166) between 6 and 21 years of age receive special education services

Prevalence-The Big Four (90%) # of Children

Percentage of Total

LD 2,817, 148 50.84%

Spch & Lang 1,074, 548 19.39%

MR 611,076 11.02

ED 463,262 8.36

Prevalence-The Other 10%

OHI 220,831 3.98

Mult Disab 107,763 1.94

Hear Imp70, 883 1.27

Orthop Imp 69, 495 1.25 VI, Aut, DB --- 1.5 TBI, DD

Facts About Children with Disabilities

# of children has grown every year since a national count was begun in the 1976-1977 school year

Children with disabilities in special education represent approximately 9.0% of all children in school

Approximately 90% of all children and youth receiving special education are reported under 4 categories (1) LD; (2) S & L (3) MR & (4) ED

Facts About Children with Disabilities

In the general education population, males and females are enrolled in equal proportion

About twice as many males as females receive special education

Facts About Children with Disabilities

What about children birth through 5 years of age? IDEA addresses their needs in a separate section of the law.

In the general population, 206,000, or about 2%, of U. S. infants and toddlers (birth to 36 months) receive early intervention services

And almost 590,000 preschool children (ages 3 through 5 years), or approximately 5% of the U.S. preschool population, received early childhood services.