Definition

This indicator represents the number of public school children ages 3
through 21 enrolled in special education through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA by five types of impairment: emotionally disturbed, speech or language impairment, specific learning disability, intellectual disability, and autism.

The denominator for the percentages is the total number of children enrolled in special education in respective geographic areas.

Emotionally Disturbed refers to a condition exhibiting one or more of
the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a
marked degree, that adversely affects a child’s educational
performance: 1) inability to learn what cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory, or health factors; 2) inability to build or
maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and
teachers; 3) inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal
circumstances; 4) a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or
depression; 5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears
associated with personal or school problems. The term also includes
schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially
maladjusted unless it is determined they have a serious emotional
disturbance.

Speech or Language Impaired refers to a communication disorder such as
stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice
impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Specific Learning Disability refers to 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 an imperfect
ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical
calculations. The term includes such conditions as perceptual
disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and
developmental aphasia. The term does not apply to children who have
learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or
motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disturbance; or
environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Intellectual Disability refers to significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.

Autism (i.e., Autism Spectrum Disorder) refers to a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engaging in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term autism does not apply if the child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined by Emotionally Disturbed.

Data Source

North Dakota Department of Public Instruction

Notes

• Data reflect the primary impairment for each student.

Last Updated

2025-09