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Data shows that the numbers are even greater than the above 6.2 million children with disabilities. Nearly 7 million children with special needs are served under IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), the nation's law that works to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. However, CHADD (Children with Hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Disorders) estimates that 3% - 5% of school aged children have ADD, a diagnosis which is not captured in the 7 million figure stated above. Other organizations actually put that number even higher. That would add nearly 3 million more children into disability category.

There is also debate about the number of children with autism, or children who fall within the spectrum of autistic disorders. It is reported by different organizations that between 5% - 12% of the entire school aged population may have autism or a related disorder.

Clearly, the market of children with special needs is even far greater than has been estimated.

And this number continues to grow. Since 1990, the number of children with disabilities has increased more than 30%. Why, you ask? There are several reasons why the incidence of disabilities has and will continue to grow. They include:

  • Increase in birthing technology: Each year 55,000 infants are born weighing under 3.2lbs. Because of new technology, 95% of these infants survive and of those, 40% - 50% will have some form of disability.
  • Maternal ages: There has been an increase number of mothers having children older and an increase in the number of teen age pregnancies both resulting in greater possibilities for disabilities.
  • Increase in multiple births: The increased technology and greater access to infertility treatments, not to mention that multiple births actually increase with the age of the mother, has resulted in an explosion of multiple births in the US.
  • Improved diagnostic testing: More sophisticated diagnostic testing enables physicians to diagnose disabilities with greater certainty, and often earlier.
  • Increase in early intervention programs: Because of early intervention and school programs, children with challenges are often diagnosed earlier than they would have been otherwise.

Based on children served under IDEA in 2003, the following disabilities were determined as primary to the identified population of children.

  • For children 3 - 4 years old, the primary disabilities are developmental delays.
  • For children 5 - 8 years old, the primary disabilities are speech and language delays.
  • For children 9 - 16 years old, the primary disabilities are specific learning disabilities.
In 2003, the estimated number of children served under IDEA, by disability,* include:
Children ages 6 - 16 with multiple disabilities 105,000
Children ages 3 - 16 with autism 165,000
Children ages 3 - 8 with developmental delay 304,000
Children ages 8 - 16 with emotional disturbances 392,000
Children ages 5 - 16 with mental retardation 476,000
Children ages 3 - 14 with speech and language delays 1.5 million
Children ages 6 - 16 with specific learning disabilities 2.5 million
*Not all disabilities listed
Nearly 275,000 children ages 0 - 2 were served by early intervention programs in the US in 2003.

AblePlay puts specific disabilities into disability categories - physical, sensory, communicative and cognitive. The following description of the AblePlay disability categories will help you understand the types of disabilities within each category. Please know that these lists are NOT all encompassing.

 
Description of AblePlay Disability Categories
Here is the description of the types of disabilities that affect some of the children who may play with and benefit from your toy.
 
Physical
Children affected with motor systems disabilities. They can include skeletal, muscle and joint abnormalities which in turn limit a child's ability to move, stand, sit, play, reach, etc.
  • Cerebral Palsy (CP)
  • Muscular Dystrophy (MD)
  • Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
  • Spina Bifida
  • Paraplegia
  • Quadriplegia
  • Developmental Delay
 
Sensory
Children with limited ability to gather and understand information from the environment through any of their five senses.
  • Hearing Impairment
  • Visual Impairment
  • Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)
 
Communicative
Children with limited ability to communicate verbally due to limited or altered comprehension and use of language.
  • Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)
  • Speech and Language Delay
  • Stuttering
 
Cognitive
Children with limited ability to process information, reason, remember and express emotions.
  • Down syndrome (trisomy 21)
  • Mental Retardation
  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Attention Deficit Disorder/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Learning Disabilities (LD)

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