According to the U.S. Department of Education, children with ADD / ADHD may be eligible for services under the following categories, depending on their unique characteristics and identified educational needs:

Other health impairment. Most children receiving special education services for ADD / ADHD alone will likely be classified as “Other Health Impaired” due to their “heightened alertness to environmental stimuli… results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment,” impairing school performance.

Specific learning disability. Children with ADHD may be eligible for special education in this category if they have coexisting learning disabilities, involved in understanding and using language that impairs the ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. In some cases, ADD / ADHD alone could generate the type of impairment that would cause a child to meet criteria under this category—especially the Inattentive Type, which has been linked to deficits in mathematics and sensory information processing. Recent brain-imaging studies and current understanding about ADHD’s effect on executive functions (and hence on information processing) also underscore this category’s continued relevance.

Emotional disturbance. Children with ADHD sometimes have coexisting emotional and mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, behavior disorders, anxiety disorders, or depression, that can adversely affect educational performance and make them eligible for special education services. Characteristics of emotional disturbance under Part B include (1) an unexplained inability to learn or to form and maintain satisfactory relationships with teachers and peers, (2) inappropriate behavior and feelings, (3) general depression, and (4) physical symptoms or fears resulting from personal or school problems.

Developmental delay. IDEA offers a noncategorical option — developmental delay — for children aged 3 through 9 who exhibit delays in physical, cognitive, communication, emotional, social, or adaptive development. At the discretion of the state and local educational agencies, schools can use this option to serve children within the specified age range who need special education and related services because of such delays. Children with ADHD often seem immature for their age — lagging behind peers up to 30 percent — and have been found to score below average on tests used to identify developmental delays. These results are consistent with neurological findings that are leading researchers to view ADHD as neurodevelopmental disorder. Some functional areas in which delays are evident include socialization, communication, daily living, and self-control. Social failure is so prevalent with ADHD that it is considered to be characteristic of the disorder.

ADDitude Magazine