Any condition (physical, sensory, or mental) which impairs a person’s ability to perform everyday tasks. Under this broad definition, it was estimated in the mid-1990s that 24 percent of Americans 15 years of age or older were disabled. Some disabilities, such as a broken hip, may be temporary; others are relatively minor, such as vision impairments that can be modified by corrective lenses. Other disabilities classified as severe may not represent a handicap—that is, the inability to take part in community life on an equal level with others. For instance, a person confined to a wheelchair may be able to live independently if physical and social barriers to mobility have been removed. In 1995 an estimated 25.3 million Americans had a severe disability.

Social Attitudes

Although exhortations to show respect and compassion for the severely disabled are part of many religious traditions, including those of Judaism and Christianity (see Lev. 19:14), ancient peoples varied widely in their treatment of those with disabilities; in some traditional cultures, for example, disabled infants were drowned. During the Middle Ages in Europe, disabled children were treated more humanely, but it was not thought that they could learn. In the 19th century, residential treatment centers were established, first in Europe and then in the U.S. by individual states, to care for people who were blind, deaf, or severely retarded, or who suffered from severe emotional disorders.

Until the second half of the 20th century, it was rare to find the simple recognition that, apart from their specific impairment, disabled people have the same abilities, needs, and interests as the mainstream population. For many of the disabled, the greatest handicap has been the image society has long held of them as a “breed apart,” who were often pitied, ignored, or even placed in institutions that offered mere custodial care. Discrimination against those with disabilities has persisted in many important areas. Some employers are reluctant to hire or promote the disabled; some landlords refuse to rent to them; and some courts are slow to grant them their basic rights.

In recent decades, people with disabilities have worked to establish some important principles. One is that they be considered on the basis of individual merit, not on stereotyped assumptions about disabilities. Another is that society must make certain changes to enable them to participate more easily in business and social activities; an example is the provision of wheelchair access to public transportation, building entrances, and theaters. A third principle is that people with disabilities should be integrated with people who do not have disabilities.

Legal Rights

Efforts by disabled people in the U.S. to establish legal rights mark a sharp contrast with traditional U.S. public policy. Before the 1970s, most legislation dealing with problems of the “handicapped”, ( such as social security or public-assistance entitlements, provided limited financial support or specific services.

Legislation and court decisions in the 1970s and well into the ’90s centered on the rights of disabled people to the same protection under law enjoyed by the rest of the population. In education, federal law guaranteed a free appropriate public education to all disabled children, regardless of the severity of their disability. In the area of employment, state laws prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities. In addition, the federal Rehabilitation Act (1973) required businesses that handle federal contracts to practice affirmative action in employing disabled people and to make “reasonable accommodations” to their disabilities. Another advance was the placement of previously institutionalized persons with disabilities in supported community-living arrangements that provide living conditions comparable to those of able-bodied people as well as access to local community resources.