The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) identifies 13 disability categories where special education should be provided.

• Auditory Impairment (AI) – refers to a hearing loss not categorized by deafness.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – mainly affects a child's social and communication skills and behavior.
• Deafness – covers kids who can't hear most or all sounds, even with a hearing aid.
• Deaf-Blindness (DB) – covers kids with both severe hearing and vision loss that requires unique programs.
• Emotional Disturbance (ED) – various mental health issues such as anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression.
• Intellectual Disability (ID) – covers disabilities such as below-average intellectual abilities, poor communication or social skills, and poor self care. One example is down syndrome.
• Multiple Impairments (MI) – a child with multiple disabilities in this list.
• Orthopedic Impairment (OI) – covers impairments in kids who lack function or ability in their bodies, such as cerebral palsy.
• Other Health Impairment (OHI) – conditions that limit a child's strength, energy, or alertness such as ADHD.
• Specific learning disability (SLD) – conditions such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, auditory processing disorder, or nonverbal learning disability.
• Speech or Language Impairment (SI) – covers difficulties such as stuttering, pronouncing words, making sounds with the voice, or understanding words.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) – injury to the brain caused by a physical force.
• Visual Impairment / Blindness (VI) – covers both partial sight and blindness.