NOD/Harris Surveys

The NOD/Harris Surveys help to quantify the challenges faced by the disability community, providing statistical data that can be used to understand specific issues facing people with disabilities, and to influence the decisions of policymakers.

Background

The NOD/Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities was started in 1986, and is the most comprehensive survey of its kind. It examines ten key quality of life indicators and measures the gaps in responses between individuals with and without disabilities. These indicators include employment, income, education, healthcare, access to transportation, entertainment, socializing, religious and political participation, and life satisfaction. In 2004, the survey was expanded to include questions regarding other finance and asset issues, and assistive technology.

Strategy

The most recent survey looked only at non?institutionalized individuals with disabilities. A person was included in the sample of people with disabilities if he or she:

• Had a disability or health problem that prevents him or her from participating fully in work, school, or other activities.
• Reported having a physical disability; a seeing, hearing or speech impairment; an emotional or mental disability; or a learning disability.
• Considered himself or herself to have a disability or said that other people would consider him or her to be a person with a disability.

Reports

Upon the release of the 2004 NOD/Harris Survey NOD reported the following:

Americans with disabilities are at a critical disadvantage compared to other Americans in ten key areas of life, according to the 2004 National Organization on Disability/Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities. Continuing a trend, the survey found slow and modest progress in the indicators, which Harris has tracked since 1986.

Harris Poll Chairman Humphrey Taylor, who directed related surveys in 1986, 1994, 1998 and 2000, highlighted statistics:

• Only 35 percent of people with disabilities reported being employed full or part time, compared to 78 percent of those who do not have disabilities.
• Three times as many live in poverty with annual household incomes below $15,000 (26 percent versus 9 percent).
• People with disabilities remain twice as likely to drop out of high school (21percent versus 10 percent).
• They are twice as likely to have inadequate transportation (31 percent versus 13 percent), and a much higher percentage go without needed health care (18 percent versus 7 percent).
• People with disabilities are less likely to socialize, eat out, or attend religious services than their non-disabled counterparts.
• Not surprisingly given the persistence of these gaps, life satisfaction for people with disabilities also trails, with only 34 percent saying they are very satisfied compared to 61 percent of those without disabilities.

In conjunction with the survey's release, a hearing was held on Capitol Hill by the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness. "Depending on the severity and type of disability that one has, some doors open but certain other doors close," said NOD Board Member Robert David Hall, who lost both legs in a 1978 highway accident. "The NOD/Harris Survey does a good job of pointing out these societal problems and highlights the real gaps we face as citizens with disabilities."

• View the 2004 NOD/Harris Survey (PDF Version).
• View the 2004 NOD/Harris Survey (Text Version).
• View the 2000 NOD/Harris Survey Executive Summary (PDF Version).
• View the 2000 NOD/Harris Survey Executive Summary (Text Version)
• View the 2000 NOD/Harris Survey Key Findings (PDF Version).
• View the 2000 NOD/Harris Survey Key Findings (Text Version)