Statistics of Disability

According to the US Department of Commerce, a person has a disability when he/she has difficulty with any of the following:

• normal body functions, such as seeing, hearing, talking, or walking
  
  
• activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing or dressing
  
  
• certain expected roles, such as doing housework, schoolwork, or working at a job
  
  
• performing usual activities, such as driving or taking a bus
  

Statistics related to disability:

• About  one in five Americans have some type of disability, and one in eight have a severe disability.
  
  
• Nearly 35 percent of persons over age 65 (or 13.9 million people) have some level of disability.
  
  
• Nine million people of all ages are severely disabled and need personal assistance for daily activities.
  
  
• Chronic pain affects about 70 million US adults.
  
  
• Stroke is a leading cause of long-term, severe disability in Americans. Today, 4.8 million US adults live with the effects of a stroke.
  
  
• Approximately 2 million Americans experience a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year.
  
  
• About 11,000 people in the US suffer a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. At present, about 243,000 people live with a SCI disability.
  

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