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

Between 34 and 43 million people in the US have some type of disability, and one in eight have a severe disability.
More than 50 percent of persons over age 65 (or 32 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 the 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 7,800 people in the US suffer a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. At present, about 250,000 to 400,000 people live with a SCI disability.