Not every child who appears to struggle in school will receive special education services under IDEA.

IDEA lists 13 different disability categories under which 3-21-year-olds may be eligible for special education and related services. The disability categories listed in IDEA are:

• Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
• Blind/Visually Impaired (VI)
• Deaf-Blind (DB)
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH)
  Developmental Cognitive Disabilities - mild/moderate (DCD)
• Developmental Cognitive Disabilities - severe/profound (DCD)
• Developmental Delay (DD)
  Emotional or Behavioral Disorders (EBD)
• Other Health Disabilities (OHD)
• Physically Impaired (PI)
• Severely Multiply Impaired (SMI)
• Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)
• Speech or Language Impairments (S/LI)
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)