By: Matthew Wallace
Story at-a-glance
- Disabilities affect people in different ways, even when they share the same diagnosis.
- There are many types of disabilities: physical, sensory, intellectual, emotional, developmental, and invisible.
- Causes vary from genetic conditions and illness to injury, aging, and environmental factors.
- Some disabilities are visible, like mobility impairments, while others are hidden, like mental illness or chronic pain.
- Understanding and early intervention can improve quality of life, access to care, and inclusive support.
Disabilities can affect people in various ways, even if one individual has the same type of disability as another person. According to 2024 data from the CDC, approximately 70 million Americans (1 in 4 adults) live with a disability. While mobility issues are most common, the prevalence of invisible disabilities like cognitive and independent living impairments has risen significantly in the post-2020 landscape. This accounts for 18.7 percent of the population living within the United States, making it one of the nation’s most important public health concerns. The prevalence of each disability type varies by age group, ethnicity, and demographic region.
The various types of disabilities can affect a person’s hearing, movement, vision, thinking, learning, communication, mental health, memory, and interpersonal relationships. Some disabilities manifest themselves more openly than others. In addition, disabilities can occur at various stages in a person’s life. For instance, infants may develop spina bifida at an early age, which affects the child’s ability to walk.
A child may have a traumatic brain injury after falling, which can affect memory. A young adult may develop depression or severe anxiety disorder, making it difficult to manage social situations. A man can develop hearing loss at midlife, which can impact his speech. Lastly, an elderly person can lose eyesight from the development of glaucoma. These types of disabilities exist in every region of the globe.
Physical Disability
Sensory Disability: Visual, Hearing, Olfactory, Gustatory, and Somatosensory
Sensory disabilities involve the impairment of one or more of the body’s senses. Sensory impairment usually refers to the limitation of vision or hearing.
Visual Impairment
Visual impairment refers to uncorrectable vision loss resulting from disease, trauma, congenital, or degenerative conditions. Visually impaired individuals do not respond to refractive corrective lenses, medication, or surgery. Medical professionals define visually impaired individuals as having one of three disabilities, including a visual acuity of less than 20/60, a central field defect, a peripheral field defect, and reduced peak contrast sensitivity. Visually impaired individuals are either partially sighted, low vision, legally blind, or totally blind.
Hearing Impairment
Hearing impaired individuals have difficulties perceiving sound frequencies typically heard by most people. Mild hearing loss may not qualify as a hearing disability. Individuals with mild hearing loss may respond to the use of hearing aids.
Olfactory and Gustatory Impairment
Other forms of sensory disabilities include olfactory and gustatory impairment, or a loss of smell and taste. Olfactory and gustatory impairment usually occurs in aging individuals; however, younger people have developed these disabilities through a wide variety of causes. Common olfactory disorders include dysosmia, anosymia, hyposmia, hyperosmia, parosmia, phantosmia, and olfactory reference syndrome.
Somatosensory Impairment
Somatosensation refers to the physical sensations arising from the epidermis. These physical sensations enable people to feel and localize touch, perceive temperature changes, and identify objects through touch. Somatosensory impairment refers to an individual’s inability to process the input received from the sensory receptors in the epidermis. Somatosensory impairment can occur anywhere in the body.
Balance Disorders
A balance disorder causes an individual to feel unsteady while standing or walking. Individuals with a balance disorder experiences symptoms of feeling woozy, giddy, spinning, or floating. The human body obtains balance when its sensual systems work together. In other words, the body’s visual, vestibular, and proprioception systems must work in tandem to perceive its surroundings. In addition, the brain must function correctly to process this information to obtain a sense of balance.
Intellectual Disability
Intellectual disabilities refer to a broad range of disorders affecting the ability to comprehend processed information. Intellectual disabilities, commonly known as cognitive disabilities and mental retardation, can manifest in any age group. Intellectual disabilities may impose limitations on an individual’s ability to walk, talk, and take care of themselves. Some intellectually disabled individuals need assistance with dressing and feeding themselves. Intellectually disabled individuals may find it difficult to adapt to social situations as they grow older.
Mental Health and Emotional Disabilities
Developmental Disability
Developmental disabilities, or birth defects impeding the growth and development of a single or multiple parts of the human body, impact the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. Individuals with developmental disabilities may exhibit behavioral problems, convulsions, inability to move, and communication difficulties. Some common developmental disabilities include intellectual and development disorders, autistic spectrum disorders, metabolic disorders, sensory-related disabilities, and degenerative disorders.
Invisible Disabilities
Invisible disabilities refer to debilitating conditions that do not produce observable symptoms. Disabled individuals who suffer from invisible disabilities experience internal symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue, dizziness, pain, cognitive dysfunctions, and learning difficulties. Individuals with mild visual and auditory impairment may not make their disabilities as obvious as more severe cases. Other invisibly disabled individuals include the mentally ill and emotionally unstable. Invisibly disabled individuals may have mild or severe limitations that inhibit their interaction with other people and their environment.
Resources
Impact of Disabilities on Medical Specialties
| Disability Type | Medical Examples | Risk to Physicians |
|---|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal | Carpal Tunnel, Degenerative Disc Disease, Arthritis | High risk for Dentists, Surgeons, and Anesthesiologists due to repetitive motion and standing. |
| Mental/Nervous | Burnout, Severe Anxiety, Depression | Growing cause of claims among Emergency Medicine and high-stress specialties. |
| Sensory (Visual/Audio) | Glaucoma, Macular Degeneration, Hearing Loss | Critical career-ending risk for Radiologists (visual) and Cardiologists (auditory monitoring). |
| Chronic Illness | Cancer, Heart Disease, Stroke | According to the CDA, 90% of disability claims are caused by illness, not accidents. |
FAQs
What are the main types of disabilities?
Disabilities can be physical, sensory, intellectual, emotional, developmental, or invisible. Each type affects different body systems and abilities.
What is a physical disability?
A physical disability limits mobility or motor function, such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or spinal cord injury.
What are invisible disabilities?
Invisible disabilities include conditions like chronic fatigue, mental illness, or mild sensory impairments that are not immediately apparent to others.
Can disabilities develop at any age?
Yes. Disabilities can occur at birth or develop later in life due to illness, injury, or age-related decline.
Are all disabilities permanent?
No. Some disabilities are temporary or treatable, while others are lifelong. Each case depends on the cause and available interventions.
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