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Providing Parents
 Legal Advocacy For Children’s Educational Rights

Qualifying Disabilities

To be eligible for special education services:a child must have a disability that meets the criteria of at least one of the disability categories defined by the law; and the disability must impact the child in the educational setting to the extent that the child needs special education and related services.

Special Education Federal and State Eligibility Categories

IEP teams must determine that a child has one of the following:

  • Autism
  • Deafness
  • Hearing Impairment
  • Multiple Disabilities
  • Other Health Impairment
  • Language or Speech Disorder
  • Visual Impairment, including blindness
  • Deaf-Blindness
  • Emotional Disturbance
  • Intellectual Disability
  • Orthopedic Impairment
  • Specific Learning Disability
  • Traumatic Brain Injury