Thoughts on Disability Culture
Who Are People with Disabilities?
It's a pretty large number of people, as it turns out. 54 million being the typical number used.
The last U.S. Census came up with a more specific number. 24 million working age people (18–64) identified themselves as having a disability.
"Identified themselves." As you'll see from the list below, there are a lot of features that could define a person which could be considered a disability. They might not think of it that way, though.
So they would never identify as "having a disability." Which means the number of working age people with what could be considered a disability is probably bigger than 24 million.
Categories of Disability
Features that may or may not limit possibilities – or to which one adapts to achieve their goals – fit within a wide range of criteria:
Mobility |
Sensory | Cognitive | Other |
| Visible | Invisible | Childhood | Acquired |
| Significant | Nominal | Temporary | Chronic |
| Identifies With | Does Not Identify | Adapted | Not Adapted |
Disability Types
Below are a sampling of the many possible conditions and characteristics that could place someone technically in the category of having a disability. For more details about many of these disabilities, visit the Disability Type Resources page.
Mobility Disabilities
Spinal Cord Injury |
Spina Bifida |
Muscular Dystrophy |
Multiple Sclerosis |
Amputation |
Cerebral Palsy |
Ataxia |
Broken Leg |
Syringomelia |
Arthritis |
|
|
Sensory Disabilities
Blindness |
Vision Loss |
Deafness |
Hard of Hearing |
Cognitive Disabilities
Developmental Disability |
Down's Syndrome |
Traumatic Brain Injury |
Bipolar Disorder |
Depression |
Autism Spectrum |
Dyslexia |
Dyscalculia |
Dysgraphia |
Other Disabilities
Diabetes |
Fibromyalgia |
Musculoskeletal Strain |
HIV/AIDS |
Crohn's Disease |
Chronic Pain |
Environmental Sensitivity |
Asthma |
Heart Disease |
Kidney Disease |
Cancer Survivor |
Epilepsy |
Hypoglycemia |
Lyme Disease |
Facial Disfigurement |
Lupus |
Short Stature |
|
Lactose Intolerance |
Albinism |
It's quite an array of possiblities, isn't it? And this is a very partial list.
How many people can you think of who fit into any of these categories? There might even be people you know who fit, but never told you – either because they were afraid of being stigmatized as "disabled," or because there was no reason to!
Who Are They? | Research | Web Sites