Disability, disadvantage, and discrimination: An overview with special emphasis on blindness in the USA

In this chapter, I focus on an area that has, in the past, had only a limited attraction for applied geographers. Much of this may be attributed to not being aware of the nature and magnitude of the spatial problems facing disabled people. In the first part of the chapter, I discuss alternate definitions of disability, select one based on lack of functional performance, and survey the nature of disability in the US and elsewhere. Thereafter, I examine enabling legislation that provides an umbrella for disability research, examine problems of barriers, and discuss avenues of future research for which the applied geographer is eminently suited to pursue.