Disability Demographics

An estimated 15% of the population in Minnesota communities have functional disabilities.  Diverse individuals have physical or mental impairments that can substantially limit one or more major life activity, such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.  Other examples of major life activities include sitting, standing, lifting, mental and emotional processes such as thinking, concentrating, and interacting with others.

A person’s disability is not the same as their impairment.  Disability occurs when people with impairments do not have access to their communities.  The disability is not because of their impairments; the disability is within the community where there is a lack of capacity to include diverse persons in the life of the community.  Examples of community life include working, shopping, public places and events, housing, government services and broadcast media/telecommunications.  SMILES CIL offers expertise and practical solutions designed to increase the quality of life for all persons in a community.

These graphs illustrate some demographic data about the area in south central Minnesota that SMILES CIL serves.  Use these links to  find more information about Minnesota’s demographic populations and U.S. Census disability information.