# 10% of all humans alive today are disabled??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021 "2006-12-13T21:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/1 "2006-12-13T21:24:24Z")
From today’s news: > [@](#): > > [U.N. adopts landmark treaty on rights of disabled](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061213/ts_nm/rights_disabled_un_dc_1) > > The U.N. General Assembly adopted by consensus on Wednesday a landmark treaty to promote and protect the rights of the world’s 650 million disabled people. _ **650 Million?** _ :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/2 "2006-12-13T21:27:54Z")
Well, start with the oldest 10% of the population. What percent of them do you think might be disabled. Then work your way back…It doesn’t sound so out of whack that way. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/3 "2006-12-13T21:38:29Z")
That, and also the fact that disability can refer to chronic disease like diabetes, cancer, asthma. There’s also temporary disability (being on crutches on in a wheelchair for a period of time). A lot of people think of people with disabilities as being easily identified - in a wheelchair, blind with a cane - but the reality is many disabilities are not immediately obvious. I can think of friends with disabilities (deaf, vision impairment, MS) that are not apparent, and in fact, you’d have to observe them for some time to figure out that they had a disability. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/4 "2006-12-13T22:09:33Z")
Does myopia count? If so, 10% sounds low. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/5 "2006-12-13T22:31:42Z")
Having HIV or AIDS also counts as a disability, at least here in the U.S. The definition is a bit expansive, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/6 "2006-12-13T23:02:02Z")
Having a mental illness can count as having a disability. I know my own mental illness has affected my life in some pretty serious ways (I had to leave my college earlier this year and come home on medical leave). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/7 "2006-12-13T23:49:07Z")
Does anyone know how the UN came up with that figure? I poked around on their web site for a bit this morning, but didn’t come up with anything. Even if I take all the inputs given so far, I still don’t get to 10%. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/8 "2006-12-13T23:59:00Z")
Remember, also, that many diseases that are easily curable in the West can disable millions in third world countries; and the third world suffers other diseases we simply don’t get, such as beriberi and leprosy. Not saying the figure is necessarily correct, but we shouldn’t use our own surroundings to arrive a conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/9 "2006-12-14T00:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] Does anyone know how the UN came up with that figure? I poked around on their web site for a bit this morning, but didn’t come up with anything. Even if I take all the inputs given so far, I still don’t get to 10%. [/QUOTE] Email the UN with our SDMB battle cry: “Cite?” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/10 "2006-12-14T00:29:48Z")
Take a look at landmine victim stats and it’s not so hard to imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/11 "2006-12-14T00:42:57Z")
Here is the UN definition of disability, in the context of some related terms: Impairment: Any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function; **Disability: Any restriction or lack {resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being and;** Handicap: A disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or disability, that, limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that is normal, depending on age, sex, social and cultural factors, for that individual. The definition is here: [http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/faqs.htm](http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/faqs.htm) For in-depth reading on the topic, try here: International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health [http://www3.who.int/icf/icftemplate.cfm](http://www3.who.int/icf/icftemplate.cfm) So their definition requires that the condition go beyond the existence of an impairment to the lack of ability to function in the “normal” range. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-of-all-humans-alive-today-are-disabled/384021/12 "2006-12-14T01:58:09Z")
**Harriet** : Thanks! That link doesn’t directly answer my question, but it looks like it might lead to some that do. I’ll try wading thru them tomorrow.