IDEA IS NOW 45 YEAR OLD!

• Nationally, 7,539,553 infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities from birth through age 21 were served under IDEA. That accounts for 9.5% of all students, up from 8.5% in 2009.
• The largest portion of special education students have a specific learning disability, followed by speech or language impairment, other health impairment, autism, intellectual disability and emotional disturbance.
• The percentage of students with autism doubled between 2009 and 2018, the Education Department reported, with increases most pronounced among those over ages.