The number of school-age children who are eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has been on the rise post-pandemic, according to an analysis of recently released federal data by The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit that aims to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
More than 7.89 million students ages 3-21 were IDEA-eligible in 2023, a 3.4 percent increase year-over-year. That continues a trend seen in 2022, which saw a 3 percent increase from 2021, and an upward trajectory that has emerged since 2020 when the total was estimated at 7.2 million.
Among 3- to 5-year-olds (not in kindergarten), there was a 9.8 percent jump in IDEA-eligibility for a total of more than 587,900 children and for those ages 5 (in kindergarten) to 21, there was a 3 percent increase, totaling 7.3 million.
“The distribution across disability categories of school age students [ages 5 (in kindergarten) to 21] with disabilities in 2023 showed an increase in the autism category while other categories remain relatively unchanged,” according to The Advocacy Institute. “The increase in the autism category accounted for 42.6 percent of the total increase. Autism now accounts for nearly 14 percent of school age students with disabilities.”
Developmental delay (7.3 percent) and deaf-blindness (3.3 percent) were the other two categories that saw the most significant differences from 2022 to 2023. Most students, however, fell into the speech or language impairment; other health impairment; and specific learning disability categories. Categories that saw fewer eligible students year-to-year included orthopedic impairment, visual impairment, traumatic brain injury, hearing impairment, emotional disturbance and intellectual disability.
In California, the number of IDEA-eligible school-age individuals changed 4.2 percent from 758,272 in 2022 to 790,465 in 2023. Alaska, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. saw similar or larger rates of change.
States are required annually to submit data to the U.S. Department of Education on infants and toddlers (ages 0-2) provided services under IDEA Part C and children (ages 3-17) who receive services under Part B of IDEA.
“The number of children served under IDEA Part C (birth through age 2) also increased in 2023, to 462,847, an increase of 4.8 percent over 2022,” according to The Advocacy Institute.
