CDC: 1 in 5 American Adults Live with a Disability

One in five American adults have at least one kind of disability, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday.

The study, drawn from 2013 data, says 53 million Americans have a disability.

Billy Altom, of Little Rock prepares to board a waiting 

train using a newly designed bridge plate that bridges the  

gap between the platform and the train during an event to 

celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with 

Disabilities Act at the Amtrak station in Ann Arbor, 

Mich., on July 23, 2015.(Photo: Melanie Maxwell, AP)

“We know disability types and related challenges can vary,” said Elizabeth Courtney-Long, a health scientist with CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. “In order to understand and address their needs, we need to understand their diverse circumstances. This report provides a snapshot into that.”

The findings come days after the 25th anniversary of the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits the discrimination of someone because of his or her disability in the workplace, transportation and community.

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The researchers defined a disability as a self-reported difficulty in one or more of five areas: vision, cognition, mobility, self-care or independent living. For people to have one or several of these disabilities, the study says they have to identify with the specific qualifications the researchers defined in questions.

The study defines a disability with vision as blindness or difficulty in seeing with glasses on. A disability for the cognition category means having a hard time with memory or making decisions due to a physical, mental or condition. For mobility, a disability entails having difficulty while climbing stairs. A self-care category means needing help dressing or bathing, and an independent living disability was defined as needing help to run errands.

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