- The nearly 7 million students with disabilities in the U.S. make up 14% of national public school enrollment, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
- According to the Pew Charitable Trust, the percentage of students with disabilities in New Jersey grew seven percent from 2001 – 2018. Nationwide, the percentage of students with disabilities grew 11% during the same time period.
- The most common type of disability for students in prekindergarten through 12th grade is a “specific learning disability.” Roughly a third (34%) of students with disabilities had a specific learning disability.
- In 2017, students with autism comprise 10% of the nation’s schoolchildren with disabilities compared with only 1.5% nearly two decades earlier.
- The percentage of students in special education varies widely among the states. New York state serves the largest share of disabled students in the country (19.2%), followed by Pennsylvania (18.6%), Maine (18.4%) and Massachusetts (18%). Texas serves the fewest (9.2%), followed by Hawaii (10.6%) and Idaho (11%).
- Nationwide, about two-thirds of students with disabilities are male (67%), while 33% are female.
Source:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/23/as-schools-shift-to-online-learning-amid-pandemic-heres-what-we-know-about-disabled-students-in-the-u-s/