RE: Elderly and self-identification as having a disability

Hi Jim,

I can share with you the statistic that RNIB quotes - "Almost two million people in the UK live with sight loss. That's around one person in 30. Of these, around 360,000 people are registered with their local authority as blind or partially sighted"

This gives a very clear picture of those that do not 'self-identify' and register as blind or partially sighted with their local authority. Many of these people are likely to be older people who as you suggest put their disability down to 'ageing'.

Thanks
Sally
Sally Cain
Accessibility Technology Senior Manager
Accessibility Support and Solutions Team
Royal National Association of Blind People (RNIB)
UK
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Allan [mailto:jimallan@tsbvi.edu] 
Sent: 24 May 2016 15:32
To: WAI-IG; WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Elderly and self identification as having a disability

Hello,
I have used, written, and repeated what I thought was a truism, but I don't recall when I first heard this ...

Some/many elderly (aged) folks do not self identify as having a disability, they respond that they are just old and things don't work as well as they used to. 

Based on conversations with elderly relatives and others (aged and people in the disability field)...I found this to be true. Perhaps it was the way the question was asked.
 

Be that as it may, I was trying to verify/research this truism. When I searched on "self identification" and other terms -- of course I found forms to self-identify, demographics, services, etc. all about folks who have self-identified. 

What I could not find is anything that verifies that elderly do not self identify because in their view they are not disabled, they are just old. There may other subsets of folks who would/could be considered disabled but for whatever reason choose not to self-identify. 


Do you have any insight/ideas...anything?

-- 

Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator

Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315    fax: 512.206.9264  http://www.tsbvi.edu/

"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964
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Received on Tuesday, 24 May 2016 14:51:13 UTC