How does the 2000 Census differ from prior years in terms of the disability data it collected?
Every Census has been different, notes LaPlante. “The 1970 Census asked persons if they had a transportation handicap. We’re well beyond asking a question like that to identify people with disabilities these days. That’s not something you have — that’s something the environmental causes: a transportation handicap.” The 1990 Census asked people: • if they were prevented from working or limited in the amount or kind of work that they could do, • if they had difficulties taking care of their personal needs, basically dressing, bathing, and so forth, and • if they had a mobility problem. The 2000 Census “asked whether people have blindness, deafness, or severe vision or hearing impairment,” says LaPlante. “They also asked about substantial limitations in physical activities, such as getting around, and lifting things, difficulty learning, remembering, or concentrating, difficulty working at a job or business.” LaPlante says many questions have inherent problems. “If I asked each of you wh
