ABSTRACT
Special education services are unique to the individual student and their needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) describes 13 categories for students to qualify for services. These categories describe the manifestation of the student's traits but do not identify the underlying cause of student performance. By contrast, cognitive abilities describe the processes in the student's brain that result in student behaviors. This chapter describes each IDEA category as well as several of the more significant cognitive abilities and how they may impact the secondary math classroom. These areas of student need will be addressed through the goals written into the student's IEP. Teachers are responsible for designing instruction to help students progress toward these IEP goals, and examples in this text demonstrate how this can be accomplished in the math classroom.
