**DRAFT** There are students in your classes with disabilities **DRAFT**

According to 2022 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 28% of the US general public reports having one or more disabilities, including physical, mental, and emotional disabilities.^[1] This includes 23.8% of individuals ages 18-44 and 34% of military veterans. 

In a 2019-2020 survey of college students by the National Center for Education Statistics,^[2] 21% of undergraduates and 11% of graduate students reported having a disability.^[3] These percentages were similar for traditional and adult students and across disciplines of study.

You may not think you have students in your class with a disability, but you do. There are three main reasons why you may not know who they are.

First, because most disabilities are invisible. You can’t always look at someone and know they have a mental health, learning, chronic health, physical, hearing, vision, or neurological disability.

Second, you don’t know because students don’t disclose. Less than 50% of students report their physical disabilities and less than 30% report mental health, learning, or neurological disabilities.^[4] Most students with disabilities who do not disclose to the university cite the fear of stigma, the (unfortunately common) pushback on accommodation requests by instructors, and the general hassle of documentation.^[5]

Third, there are students who have a disability but don’t know that they do. They may not have been formally diagnosed due to the cost of testing, lack of adequate health care, or the force of cultural norms to not be “different”. In addition, ADD, ADHD, and autism can be diagnosed later in life, especially in women who did not match the male-normed symptoms in elementary and secondary schools. Students who have acute or new chronic health conditions or have been injured may not consider themselves as having a disability even if it impairs their learning for a semester, a year, or more.^[6]

Based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the National College Heath Assessment data,^[7] a class of 50 students could include

• 15 students diagnosed with anxiety
• 10 students diagnosed with depression
• 10 students with sleep difficulties like insomnia or sleep apnea
• 6 students with ADHD
• 5 students who experience migraines or other severe headaches
• 2 students with specific learning disabilities including dyslexia and dyscalculia
• 2 students with autism
• 1 student who is blind or has low vision
• 1 student with a trauma-related disability including PTSD
• 1 student who is Deaf or hard of hearing

If you add those numbers up it comes to more than 50 students! It’s common for people to have overlapping disabilities, for example someone with PTSD could also have anxiety and depression, so this isn’t to say everyone has a disability. The point is that it’s extremely unlikely that no one in your classes has a disability.