IDEA refers to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
IDEA is a federal law that ensures students with disabilities are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) tailored to their individual needs.
The categories of disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) were determined by the U.S. Congress when the law was originally enacted as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975. There have been several revisions to the law since then.
The disability categories defined under IDEA are part of the law’s regulations and are used to determine eligibility for special education services. These categories were developed based on research, expert input, and policy considerations to cover a broad range of disabilities that can impact a child’s educational performance.
While the federal government, through IDEA establishes the framework and definitions, individual states have some flexibility in how they implement these categories, but they must work within the federal definitions and requirements. Some states also have the option to include “developmental delay” as an additional category for children aged 3-9.
The U.S. Department of Education also plays a role in interpreting and enforcing these categories through regulations and guidance to states.
- Each summary will begin with the IDEA definition of the disability.
- Keep the wording exactly as found in IDEA 2004.
Keep the wording exactly as found in IDEA 2004.
A good online resource for these definitions is:
Center for Parent Information and Resources (2017). Categories of Disability Under IDEA. Retrieved from: https://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/
For example, the IDEA definition of specific learning disability is:
“Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage”
(Center for Parent Information and Resources, 2017).←(in text citation)
Center for Parent Information and Resources (2017). Categories of Disability Under IDEA.
updated 10/29/2025
