A student caller works in the SCSU Survey Lab during the Fall 2015 survey.
The majority of Minnesotans know someone with a disability and believe the 26-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been beneficial, according to findings by the Fall 2015 SCSU Statewide Survey.
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Each fall the SCSU Survey conducts a survey of adult Minnesotans about their perspectives on relevant political and social issues.
The SCSU Fall 2015 Survey previously released a Political Report and an Environmental Report based on the survey results.
This year’s survey asked respondents about their views on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. These questions helped the SCSU Survey capture information about disability within the state and to gauge how Minnesotans perceive the success of ADA.
The lead faculty member on the ADA portion of the survey was Amanda Hemmesch Breaker, an assistant professor of psychology, who studies disability, chronic conditions and aging. She developed the disability-related content and analyzed the results.
The study left the definition of disability open so that participants could use their personal definitions and experience to guide their responses.
About two-thirds of Minnesotans are at least somewhat familiar with ADA. Sixty-eight percent of Minnesotans know someone well who has a disability or a chronic health condition.
The majority of Minnesotans, 76 percent, believe that the ADA has been successful at improving accessibility for individuals with disabilities, and 64 percent believe the law has reduced discrimination for individuals with disabilities.
These beliefs were more prevalent among middle age and older Minnesotans than young adults. Outstate Minnesotans are more likely to know someone with a disability than metropolitan residents, but metropolitan residents are more likely to be familiar with the ADA law and are more optimistic about the impact of the law than outstate residents.
The Pew Internet Research conducted one of the only other large-scale, representative surveys of disability in 2010 as part of its Health Tracking Study.
The Pew survey defined disability as any condition that interferes with daily living, including those that affect mobility, thinking, hearing, seeing or self-care tasks.
The Pew survey found that about 27 percent of individuals reported a disability.
Responses for the survey were gathered from 623 randomly-selected landline and cellphone users Oct. 12-22 at the St. Cloud State Survey Lab.
