No one plans to become disabled, which is why it’s so important to consider potential issues and legal options in advance. Many people think of disability as something rare, but the reality is that it affects far more people than they may realize. The chances of becoming disabled in the future could be higher than expected.
In the United States, there are over 340 million Americans. Roughly 28.7% of them—just over one out of every four people—are living with a disability. The specifics of these disabilities vary greatly from case to case, but it’s clear that they affect millions of Americans. Let’s look at a breakdown of how these disabilities are classified and the impact they can have on a person’s life.
Common types of disabilities
To get a sense of how disabilities affect Americans, consider the following breakdown of the percentage of Americans with different types of disabilities:
- 3.6%: A disability that makes it difficult or impossible for someone to provide self-care, even with tasks like bathing or dressing.
- 5.5%: A visual disability, which may include legal blindness but can also involve severe difficulty seeing.
- 6.2%: A hearing disability, which could include being legally deaf.
- 7.7%: A disability that makes it impossible for someone to live independently.
- 12.2%: A mobility disability that can make it hard to do things like climbing stairs or simply walking unaided.
- 13.9%: A mental or cognitive disability that can make it difficult to make decisions, concentrate or remember important details.
The specific extent of a disability can vary greatly from one person to the next, even within these common classifications. Anyone dealing with a disability should understand their legal options for seeking proper benefits.