Disability Definitions Across Selected Federal Programs and Laws

Program or Law	Disability Definition
Social Security Act:^a Adult	“The inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment(s) which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.” Establishing a medically determinable impairment requires objective medical evidence (“signs, laboratory findings, or both”) from an acceptable medical source and not from “an individual’s statement of symptoms, a diagnosis, or a medical opinion.”¹
Social Security Act: Child	“A child under age 18 will be considered disabled if he or she has a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments that causes marked and severe functional limitations, and that can be expected to cause death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.”²
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)	The VA uses a “percent disability rating,” which reflects an assessment of the severity of disability and aims to represent the extent to which the disability “decreases ... overall health and ability to function.” Disability ratings derive from physicians’ reports, test results, and other assessments and must relate to a “service-connected condition.”³
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)^b	“Child with a disability means a child evaluated in accordance with sections 300.304 through 300.311 as having an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance ..., an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.”⁴
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504	The original law used the words “handicap” and “handicapped individual,” and applied to “any individual who—(i) has a physical or mental impairment which for such individual constitutes or results in a substantial impediment to employment; and (ii) can benefit in terms of an employment outcome from vocational rehabilitation services.”⁵ Section 504 has been updated to use ADA/ADAAA definitions.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)	“The term ‘disability’ means, with respect to an individual– (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment.”⁶
Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)^c	The ADAAA uses the same definition of disability as the ADA, but further defines specific terms and phrases, such as: “Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.... “A major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.... “Paragraph (1)(C) [the third component of the ADA disability definition] shall not apply to impairments that are transitory and minor. A transitory impairment is an impairment with an actual or expected duration of 6 months or less.”⁷

a. Determines eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI, Title II of the Social Security Act) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI, Title XVI).

b. Under IDEA Part B, children and youth with disability from 3 to 21 years of age receive special education and related services. Under IDEA Part C, infants and toddlers (birth through age 2) with disability and their families receive early intervention services.

c. The ADAAA list of potentially disabling medical conditions is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to provide examples. In July 2021, the US Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services offered guidance about inclusion of long COVID as a disability.

Endnotes

1. Social Security Administration, “Consultative Examinations: A Guide for Health Professionals: Part I – General Information,” ssa.gov/disability/professionals/greenbook/ce-general.htm.

2. Social Security Administration, “Consultative Examinations.”

3. US Department of Veterans Affairs, “About Disability Ratings,” November 5, 2024, va.gov/disability/about-disability-ratings.

4. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B, Subpart A, Section 300.8, “Child with a Disability,” sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/a/300.8.

5. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Public Law No. 103-73, 107 Stat. 718 (1993), congress.gov/103/statute/STATUTE-107/STATUTE-107-Pg718.pdf.

6. Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12102 (1990), uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:42%20section:12102%20edition:prelim).

7. Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, Public Law 110-325, 122 Stat. 3553, eeoc.gov/statutes/ada-amendments-act-2008.