| |
Health Tips
Disability
Definition of Disability
- Activity Limitation - having a chronic physical or mental health problem (a disease, disorder, or aftereffect of an injury that has lasted at least 3 months) or an impairment that restricts the ability to perform one or more activities.
- Work Disability - being restricted in their ability to work at a job or business.
- Functional Limitation - experiencing one or more limitations in physical function.
- ADLs and IADLs - limitations in self-care and home management activities, known respectively as "activities of daily living" (ADLs) and "instrumental activities of daily living" (IADLs).
- Severe Diability - needing the assistance of another person in performing these basic activities.
Disability Laws:
- Rehabilitation Act
The Rehabilitation Act (1973) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors.
- Americans with Disabilities Act
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined by ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (formerly called P.L. 94-142 or the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975) requires public schools to make available to all eligible children with disabilities a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual needs.
FAQs
How many Americans have a disability?
Analyses of the 1996 SIPP data suggest that 19.7% of the general population, about 52.6 million people, live with some level of disability. SIPP data also suggest that about 33.0 million people (12.3 percent of the population) experience a severe disability (McNeil 2001).
What are the most common types of disability in the U.S.?
- Heart disease ranks first (7.9 million)
- Back problems (7.7 million)
- Arthritis (5.7 million)
- Orthopedic impairments of lower extremity (2.8 million)
- Asthma (2.6 million)
- Diabetes (2.6 million)
- Mental disorders (2.0 million)
- Eye disorders - not including visual impairments (1.6 million)
- Learning disabilities/mental retardation (1.6 million)
- Cancer (1.3 million)
- Visual impairments (1.3 million)
- Orthopedic impairments of the shoulder and/or upper extremity (1.2 million)
- Hearing impairments (1.2 million)
How many children in the United States have a disability?
Of all school-age children, 650,000 (1.3%) are limited in mobility, 470,000 (0.9%) have a self-care limitation, 2,743,000 (5.5%) have a communication limitation, and 5,237,000 (10.6%) have a limitation in learning ability. Overall, 6,075,000 school-age American children (12.3%) have some type of functional limitation. (1994 National Health Interview Survey)
What are the income and poverty levels of people with disabilities?
Employment is crucial in keeping people with disabilities out of poverty. Among working-age people with disabilities who do not work, 39.7% live in poverty, according to the 1995 Current Population Survey (CPS), compared to 15.1% of those who work at least some of the time. But even among those who do work, discrimination and other factors keep income levels of people with disabilities well below those of workers without disabilities. In 1995, men with disabilities earned on average only 72.1% of the amount non-disabled men earned annually, according to the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP); women with disabilities made 72.6% as much as those without disabilities.
What statistics are there on crime and violence against people with disabilities?
Recent research suggests that persons with disabilities are experiencing a heightened risk of becoming victims of violence and abuse. One recent study found that more than 70% of women with developmental disabilities are sexually assaulted in their lifetime, which represents a 50% higher rate than the rest of the population (Sobsey and Doe 1991). Sobsey and his colleagues reviewed the available literature and concluded that the best conservative estimate is that people with developmental disabilities are four to ten times more likely to be victims of crimes than are people without disabilities (Sobsey, Lucardie and Mansell 1995).
Research also hints that the most frequent crimes were those of assault, sexual assault and robbery, as well as economic crimes, relating to benefit payments through third parties. There is also a high probability of repeat victimization. In a sample of intellectually disabled women, it was found that of those who had been sexually assaulted, nearly 50% had been assaulted ten or more times. Revictimization is frequent because a high percentage of perpetrators are care providers of family members, and certain disabilities can prevent a victim from verbally reporting, running from, or fighting the attacker (Sobsey and Doe 1991).
Resources
Disabled People International
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Disability Statistics Center
Housing for People with Disabilities
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997
Kid Needs
National Council on Disability
National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption
New Alternatives for Children
Through the Looking Glass
Reading Materials
Disability Watch: the status of people with disabilities in the United States
Exceptional Parent Magazine
No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement
By Joseph Shapiro
Times Books, 1994
 Back to Top  Printer-friendly Page  Contact Us
|
|
