IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is the law that represents special education. It concerns students with special needs between the ages of 3-22 who go to a public institution. For a child to be affected by the IDEA act, he or she must legally identify with one of the thirteen disabilities (autism, blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, other hearing impaired disabilities, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment, specific learning disability, orthopedic impairment, and speech or language impairment). Besides, the limitation must be seen to affect the child’s academic performance adversely. IDEA identifies children with the mentioned disabilities as a find.
| Categories of Disability (IDEA) | Definition | Characteristics | Causes | Prevalence |
| Autism | A brain development disorder |
Limited communication Lessened social interactions Repetitive behaviors Atypical eating Limited interests (Viscidi et al., 2013). |
Genetic base Environmental causes like heavy metals, induced labor, childhood vaccinations, and pesticides |
The disorder is more common in boys than girls |
| Blindness | One is considered blind when he or she has a less visual or a vision cannot be reversed |
Progressive eye disorder Low visible activity Visual field limitation Cortical Visual Impairment |
Lazy eye or Amblyopia Glaucoma Cataract Optic Neuritis Retinitis Pigmentosa Tumors Macular Degeneration Infections Ptosis |
People who are likely to have blindness disorder include eye surgery patients, premature babies, stroke patients, diabetic patients, eye disease patients and people who often engage with toxic chemicals or sharp objects (Nowak & Smigielski, 2015) |
| Deafness | It is complete inability to hear |
A follower and not a leader A level of language delay Frustrated if requirements are not met Difficulty with oral expression Failure to follow verbal leads |
Glue ear Cholesteatoma Cleft palate Microtia and atresia Otosclerosis Genetic Syndrome for hearing loss Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Meningitis |
The disability is common among infants. In adults it is prevalent in men (between the age of 20-69) (NIH, 2016) |
| Emotional Disturbance | It is a condition whereby an individual cannot build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with THE teacher and peers or a general persistent mood of depression or unhappiness |
Bipolar disorders Anxiety disorders Conduct disorders Eating disorders Obsessive-compulsive disorders Psychotic disorders |
Hyperactivity, imbalance or other breakdowns of the autonomic nervous system. | Children, teenagers from 14 years old, and youths from 24 years old (Child Mind Institute, 2015) |
| Hearing Impairment | It is the total or partial inability to listen to that may occur in one or both ears |
Conductive hearing loss caused by excess earwax, defective eardrum, glue ear, ear infection, and a perforated eardrum. Sensorineural hearing impairment Amalgamation of sensorine,ural, and conductive hearing disorder |
Chickenpox Mumps Cytomegalovirus Meningitis Syphilis Lyme disease Diabetes Sickle cell disease Arthritis Some cancers Hypothyroidism |
The disability is common among infants. In adults it is prevalent in men (between the age of 20-69) (NIH, 2016) |
| Intellectual Disability | It is the limitation to learn, make decisions, reason and solve issues |
Cognitive delays Below-average mental ability Lack of appropriate skills for daily living Slow learners |
Environmental Chromosomal abnormalities Metabolic like hyperbilirubinemia Malnutrition Before and After birth trauma |
Common in adults and people with autism (Tsiouris, Kim, Brown, Pettinger, & Cohen, 2013) |
| Multiple Disabilities | The definition is broad because it is not only one disability. For instance, a child may have blindness and intellectual disability |
Intellectual disability Mobility issues Speech Impairment and other characteristics depending on the type of disability |
Genetic disorder Premature birth Infections Injuries Poor brain development Difficulties during delivery Chromosomal abnormalities |
Common in disabled people |
| Orthopedic Impairment | It is an adverse disorder that affects a person’s educational performance | The characteristics differ from one disease and its effects |
Genetic abnormalit Disease such as diabetes Birth trauma Amputation Burns Injury |
The prevalence differs from one disease to the other. For instance, neurocognitive impairment is not common in patients who are early diagnosed with HIV and manage their health (Crum-Cianflone et al., 2013) |
| Other Health Impaired | It represents other conditions apart from the 12 mentioned impairments that seek special education |
Easily distracted Forgetful in many occasion Withdraw from activities that need concentration Disorganized Fidgets in seat Talks excessively |
Asthma Cardiac conditions Leukemia Sickle cell anemia Rheumatic fever Epilepsy Diabetes |
Common in children |
| Specific Learning Disability | It is a psychological development disorder that inhibits comprehension or use of language. It is the inability to speak, read, write, listen, spell. |
Academic problems Poor cognitive strategies Difficulties in oral language Difficulties in writing Poor motor abilities |
Hereditary Medical Teratogenic Environmental |
Common in children from the age of 3-5 years |
| Speech or Language Impairment | Communication disability that undesirably affects a child’s ability to understand, talk, write, and read |
Difficulty in making sounds Changing or leaving out sounds A disrupted flow of speech Tension Reduced vocabulary Inability to follow leads Use of words inappropriately |
Hearing loss Physical impairments Intellectual disabilities Neurological disorders |
Common in children from the age of 3-5 years. |
| Traumatic Brain Injury | It is an injury to the brain |
Memory loss A headache Fatigue Dizziness Emotional disturbance Physical changes Speech and language problems Perceptual and sensory difficulties Cognitive deficits |
Violent jolt or blow to the body or head Injuries from accidents Combat injuries Falls Sports injuries |
Children and youths (Ma, Chan, & Carruthers, 2014) |
| Visual Impairment | The extent to which a person cannot see and the issue is irreversible with glasses |
Non-reversed vision issues Reduced vision acuity Progressive eye disease Cortical visual impairment |
Blindness Low vision Age-related macular degeneration Cataract Glaucoma |
Common in adults over 75 years of age and it differs from one race to the other (Klein & Klein, 2013) |
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References
Child Mind Institute. (2015). Children's Mental Health Report . Retrieved from Child Mind Institute website: https://childmind.org/downloads/2015%20Childrens%20Mental%20Health%20Report.pdf
Crum-Cianflone, N. F., Moore, D. J., Letendre, S., Poehlman Roediger, M., Eberly, L., Weintrob, A., … Hale, B. R. (2013). Low prevalence of neurocognitive impairment in early diagnosed and managed HIV-infected persons. Neurology , 80 (4), 371-379. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e31827f0776
Klein, R., & Klein, B. E. (2013). The Prevalence of Age-Related Eye Diseases and Visual Impairment in Aging: Current Estimates. Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science , 54 (14), ORSF5. doi:10.1167/iovs.13-12789
Ma, V. Y., Chan, L., & Carruthers, K. J. (2014). Incidence, Prevalence, Costs, and Impact on Disability of Common Conditions Requiring Rehabilitation in the United States: Stroke, Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Limb Loss, and Back Pain. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation , 95 (5), 986-995.e1. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2013.10.032
NIH. (2016, December 5). Quick Statistics About Hearing. Retrieved from https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing
Nowak, M. S., & Smigielski, J. (2015). The Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment and Blindness Among Older Adults in the City of Lodz, Poland. Medicine , 94 (5), e505. doi:10.1097/md.0000000000000505
Tsiouris, J. A., Kim, S., Brown, W. T., Pettinger, J., & Cohen, I. L. (2013). Prevalence of Psychotropic Drug Use in Adults with Intellectual Disability: Positive and Negative Findings from a Large Scale Study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 43 (3), 719-731. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1617-6
Viscidi, E. W., Triche, E. W., Pescosolido, M. F., McLean, R. L., Joseph, R. M., Spence, S. J., & Morrow, E. M. (2013). Clinical Characteristics of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Co-Occurring Epilepsy. PLoS ONE , 8 (7), e67797. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067797
