Which disabilities were less than 5% of disabled students eligible for?

Which disabilities were less than 5% of disabled students eligible for?

• A. Multiple disabilities; hearing impairment; orthopedic impairment
• B. Visual impairment; Deaf-Blindness; Traumatic Brain Injury
• C. Autism; Intellectual Disability; Emotional Disturbance
• D. Health Impairment; Specific Learning Disability; Speech or Language Disability

Answer: (A)

The question checks understanding of how common different disability categories are among students who receive special education services. Among the categories, some are very rare, making up less than 5% of all students with disabilities. In the data referenced for this item, the categories that fall under that 5% threshold are multiple disabilities, hearing impairment, and orthopedic impairment. Multiple disabilities are rare because needing more than one disability concurrently is uncommon; hearing impairment and orthopedic impairment are also relatively uncommon compared to the most prevalent categories, so each of these remains under 5% of the disabled-student population. Other categories listed tend to have larger shares in the disabled student population, so they do not fit the “less than 5%” criterion in this context.

The question checks understanding of how common different disability categories are among students who receive special education services. Among the categories, some are very rare, making up less than 5% of all students with disabilities. In the data referenced for this item, the categories that fall under that 5% threshold are multiple disabilities, hearing impairment, and orthopedic impairment. Multiple disabilities are rare because needing more than one disability concurrently is uncommon; hearing impairment and orthopedic impairment are also relatively uncommon compared to the most prevalent categories, so each of these remains under 5% of the disabled-student population. Other categories listed tend to have larger shares in the disabled student population, so they do not fit the “less than 5%” criterion in this context.