Abuse Among People with Disabilities

The term “disability” covers many forms and levels of disability, including physical, developmental, and psychological disabilities.

People can be born with disabilities or a disability can result from a life or medical event. Disabilities can impact different areas of a person’s life, such as physical, cognitive, medical, and mental health.¹

Some examples of types of disabilities are:

• Medical: cancer, diabetes, HIV, epilepsy;
• Developmental: ADHD, autism, Down’s Syndrome;
• Mobility: cerebral palsy, stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis;
• Mental health: post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, major depressive disorder;
• Vision: Blindness, low vision; and
• Auditory: Deafness, hard of hearing.²  Note: It is important to acknowledge that many people in the Deaf community do not consider deafness to be a disability. Some people embrace the Deaf culture and consider themselves to be part of the unique cultural and linguistic minority who use sign language as their primary language.³

There are many other disabilities not listed here.

¹ World Report on Disability, National Institutes of Health (2011)
² Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
³ National Deaf Center