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%)

 LD
# of Children
2,817, 148
Percentage
of Total
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 Imp
70, 883
1.27
 Orthop Imp 69, 495
1.25
1.5
 VI, Aut, DB
 TBI, DD
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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.