Disability

According to Disability World:

Having a disability places you in the world's largest minority group. Currently, around 10% of the world's population, or roughly 650 million people, live with a disability. In most of the OECD countries, females have higher rates of disability than males.

The ADA has a three-part definition of "disability." This definition, based on the definition under the Rehabilitation Act, reflects the specific types of discrimination experienced by people with disabilities.

Accordingly, it is not the same as the definition of disability in other laws, such as state workers' compensation laws or other federal or state laws that provide benefits for people with disabilities and disabled veterans.

Under the ADA, an individual with a disability is a person who:

• Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities

• Has a record of such an impairment

• Is regarded as having such an impairment

The World Heath Organization defines "Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person's body and features of the society in which he or she lives.

Learn More: Disability World- Founded in 2004, Disabled World (DW) is a leading resource on disabilities, assistive technologies, and accessibility, supporting the disability community.