Students with disabilities in grades K-12 identified as having disabilities under IDEA represent 8.4% of all students enrolled in public education. Disability categories children are often placed in and national percentages for the 2011-12 school year were as follows:
| Source: Thirty-fifth Annual Report to Congress on Implementation of the IDEA, US Department of Education. Washington DC, 2013 | |
| Specific learning disabilities | 41% |
| Speech or language impairments | 19% |
| Other health impairments | 13% |
| Autism | 7% |
| Intellectual disabilities | 7% |
| Emotional disturbance | 6% |
| Developmental delay | 2% |
| Multiple disabilities | 2% |
| Hearing impairments | 1% |
| Orthopedic impairments | 1% |
| Deaf-blindness | <0% |
| Traumatic brain injury | <0% |
| Visual impairments | <0% |