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Web-Based Organizations and Resources
Full-Text Articles
Blind Adults in America: Their Lives and Challenges - A Report from the National Center for Policy Research for Women and Families
http://www.center4research.org/blind0204.html
This study has looked at blind adults to understand what policies and services are needed, especially as the population ages. Its ramifications are especially important to women. The study has covered a wide range of issues related to the conditions of blind people, including demographics, work and other daily activities, regional differences and policy issues, to name a few. The copyright of this report is 2004.Blindness Statistics Link, American Foundation for the Blind
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=15
This site covers general statistics related to blindness and visual impairment. It includes areas such as population estimates, mobility, children's use of braille, computer use, marital status, employment and educational attainment.These statistics would be helpful to anyone in the general public attempting to access statistics on blindness or visual impairment. American Foundation for the Blind is a well-known and respected blindness organization that publishes important jourals such as Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. Many of the statistics come from various federal and US Census surveys, mostly dating from 1994-1995.
Blindness Statistics for Professionals, American Foundation for the Blind
http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=15&DocumentID=1367
This site covers similar information related to blindness statistics in the same areas as above but is aimed at professionals and uses slightly more complex language to describe the general areas covered. It also lists more information on the scope and definitions of subjects covered and gives detailed source information. Most of the data comes from a 1994-95 national survey conducted by the federal government's National Center for Health Statistics. AFB is a well known and respected blindness organization that is a major publisher in the field.Blindness Statistics, National Eye Institute of The U.S. National Institutes of Health
http://www.nei.nih.gov/eyedata/
This report contains in-depth statistics and data covering prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness among adults 40 years and older in the United States. It also contains updates to estimates of the economic costs of visual disorders and disabilities. It contains in-depth tables on these areas and would probably be most helpful to professionals in the blindness field although could be used by anyone interested in these figures. This information is put out by the US government and many tables were updated as of December 2006. One of the major reports on the site, Vision Problems in the US was done in 2002. The statistics on this site are a joint project of the National Eye Institute and Prevent Blindness America.Deafblind Demographics
http://nationaldb.org/ISSelectedTopics.php?topicCatID=16
This section of the DB-LINK website has several articles about statistics related to deafblindness. It includes a link to the National Deaf-Blind Child Count Summary and the National Registry compiled by the Helen Keller National Center.Disability Reports and Briefs, U.S. Bureau of the Census
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/publications.html
The report with the most thorough information about visual impairment is in Americans with Disabilities: 2002, based on data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). Disability Status: 2000 is based on the 2000 Census, with data on disability status of people aged five and older in the civilian noninstitutionalized population, including geographic distribution. Unfortunately, this report does not separate data on hearing and visual impairment.2005 Disability Status Report, Employment and Disability Institute of Cornell University
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/disabilitystatistics/StatusReports/2005-html/2005-StatusReports_US.html?CFID=21363536&CFTOKEN=98628410#about
The Annual Disability Status Reports provide policy makers, disability advocates, reporters, and the public with a summary of the most recent demographic and economic statistics on the working-age (ages 21-64) population with disabilities. They contain information on the population size, prevalence, employment, earnings, poverty, household income, housing, and activity limitations of working-age people with disabilities, as well as the composition of this population by age, race, gender, and educational attainment. Comparisons are made to working-age people without disabilities and across types of disabilities. Additional statistics by state are available at www.DisabilityStatistics.org. The estimates in the 2005 Disability Status Reports are based on American Community Survey (ACS) data—a U.S. Census Bureau survey designed to replace the decennial census long form. This site contains in-depth statistics.Massachusetts Commission for the Blind Central Register
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2modulechunk&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Government
This website provides a report on the prevalence of local cases of legal blindness. The law requires that all eye care providers report these cases within 30 days, and the Mass Commission for the Blind (MCB) keeps these records and generates a statistical report that can be accessed through this website. (Report of the Register) The reports are not totally current; for instance the report on the site now is from 2003, but they are very helpful for approximations for either professionals or the public. The figures are given both for regions and cities or towns.Babies Count: The National Registry for Children With Visual Impairments Birth to 3 Years, American Printing House for the Blind
http://sun1.aph.org/advisory/babiescount.html
This website describes the Babies Count Project sponsored by American Printing House for the Blind (APH). The mission of the project is to establish a national registry of young children, ages birth to 36 monhs by working with public and private agencies to collect epidemiological and demographic data on young children. An accessible on-line database allows for easy training for states and agencies wishing to participate.
Web-Based Organizations and Resources
The Disability Statistics Center, University of California, San Francisco
http://dsc.ucsf.edu/main.php?name=finding_data
This site provides a good overview of government sources and links of disabilities statistics available from Decennial Census, American Community Survey, National Health Interview Survey to name a few. It is a good starting point for people who do not know too much about gathering statistics and provides current links as well as explanations on how the data is gathered and what it means. There is also a very small international disability data section focusing on UN and World Health Organization links. The links go to either 2000 Census data or in some cases 94-95 Reports.