What Disabilities Qualify for Schedule A Hiring?

Three broad categories of conditions qualify for Schedule A hiring: intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities. The regulation at 5 CFR 213.3102(u) does not publish a closed list of diagnoses under those headings, which means eligibility is broader than most applicants assume. What decides the question in practice is whether a licensed professional will certify in writing that your condition fits one of the three categories and that you can perform the job with or without reasonable accommodation.¹

The Three Qualifying Categories

Schedule A eligibility is defined by category rather than by diagnosis. Any condition that a qualified professional is willing to place in one of these three buckets can serve as the basis for a Schedule A letter:

Intellectual disabilities
Severe physical disabilities
Psychiatric disabilities

Because the regulation neither lists specific conditions nor excludes them, there is no official checklist to consult. That structure is deliberate. It lets the authority reach a wide range of conditions so long as the certifying professional judges the disability real and substantial.

“Intellectual Disability” Is Defined Narrowly

One category comes with a tighter definition than its name suggests. “Intellectual disabilities” in 5 CFR 213.3102(u) covers only those disabilities that would have been captured by the outdated term “mental retardation” in earlier versions of the rule and the associated Executive Order 12125.² Learning disabilities and ADHD do not qualify under this heading on their own. They can still support a Schedule A application if they also involve a severe physical or psychiatric component that fits one of the other two categories.

Severe Physical and Psychiatric Disabilities

The other two categories are not narrowed by any similar historical definition. A physical condition qualifies if it is severe, and a psychiatric condition qualifies if it meets the threshold a certifying professional will attest to. The functional impact of the condition — how much it limits major life activities — is what carries the weight, not the specific label attached to it.

Targeted Disabilities: What Agencies Expect to See

While the regulation stays open-ended, the federal government does maintain a list of “targeted disabilities” on Standard Form 256. These are the conditions agencies most commonly recognize and actively track for reporting purposes, and they give a practical picture of the kinds of disabilities that clearly fall within the three categories:

Developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder and similar conditions
Traumatic brain injury
Deafness or serious difficulty hearing
Blindness or serious difficulty seeing, even with corrective lenses
Missing extremities, meaning loss of an arm, leg, hand, or foot
Significant mobility impairment, including conditions requiring a wheelchair, scooter, walker, or leg braces
Partial or complete paralysis from any cause
Epilepsy and other seizure disorders
Intellectual disability
Significant psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, and major depression
Dwarfism
Significant disfigurement from burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital conditions

An applicant with one of these conditions is on well-trodden ground.³

Conditions Beyond the Targeted List

The targeted disabilities are not the outer limit. Many chronic illnesses and episodic conditions can also meet the Schedule A threshold when they substantially limit major life activities. Cancer, diabetes, and HIV are examples agencies have recognized as qualifying disabilities under the broader ADA framework.

The distinction that matters is functional impact, not diagnosis. A person with well-controlled diabetes who experiences no substantial limitations in daily activities may not qualify. Someone whose diabetes causes serious complications that substantially limit major life activities likely would. The same condition can qualify for one person and not another, because the question is what the condition does, not what it is called.

What Doesn’t Qualify on Its Own

A few common conditions are worth flagging because applicants often assume they fit the intellectual disabilities category when they do not. Learning disabilities and ADHD, by themselves, are outside the narrow definition of intellectual disability that Schedule A uses. They can still open a Schedule A path if they co-occur with a qualifying severe physical or psychiatric disability, but the learning disability or ADHD diagnosis alone will not carry the letter.

How Qualification Is Proven

Because Schedule A eligibility is defined by category and not by a fixed list, the certification letter is where qualification actually gets decided. The letter does not need to state your diagnosis, your medical history, or your specific accommodation needs. It needs to state that you have an intellectual disability, a severe physical disability, or a psychiatric disability, and that you can perform the duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.⁴

Who Can Sign the Letter

The certification must come from one of three sources:

A licensed medical professional, such as a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, audiologist, or other medical specialist certified to practice in your state or territory
A licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, whether state-employed or private
A government agency that issues disability benefits, such as the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or a state disability agency

School disability services coordinators generally cannot sign a Schedule A letter unless they also hold one of the licenses above.⁴

What Makes a Letter Valid

OPM’s sample letters show that a valid certification references the Schedule A hiring authority by its regulatory citation, 5 CFR 213.3102(u). The letter must appear on the professional’s official letterhead and carry their signature, or an agency may reject it as invalid.⁵ A typical letter is short, often one or two sentences: it certifies that the individual has a qualifying disability and is eligible for consideration under the Schedule A authority.

Letters Do Not Expire

Schedule A letters carry no expiration date. The same letter can be reused across multiple applications and over many years. If the signing professional’s contact information has changed, an updated letter may be needed so an agency can verify it.⁴

Reasonable Accommodation Is Part of the Standard

The certification does not have to say you can perform the job unassisted. It has to say you can perform it with or without reasonable accommodation. Federal agencies are required by law to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so would cause undue hardship.⁶ That means a condition can qualify for Schedule A even where the applicant needs interpreters, adaptive equipment, modified duties, flexible scheduling, or accessible technology to do the work. The accommodation obligation runs from the application stage through the entire course of employment, and you do not have to disclose your diagnosis to request one.

Veterans With Qualifying Disabilities

A veteran whose disability fits one of the three Schedule A categories can use this authority in addition to other pathways such as Veterans’ Recruitment Appointment or veterans’ preference in the competitive examining process. OPM encourages veterans to seek consideration under every authority that applies to them.⁷ One point of interaction to know: appointments made under 5 CFR 213.3102(u) are exempt from the normal veterans’ preference procedures of 5 CFR Part 302, so the usual preference-point system does not apply when an agency fills a position through Schedule A.

1
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The ABCs of Schedule A Tips for Applicants with Disabilities on Getting Federal Jobs
2
eCFR. 5 CFR 213.3102 – Entire Executive Civil Service
3
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Self-Identification of Disability – Standard Form 256
4
U.S. Department of Labor. How to Obtain a Schedule A Letter
5
OPM. Sample Schedule A Letters
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Reasonable Accommodations
7
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Veterans and Transitioning Service Members