Friday, July 18, 2008

(ARA) - That shocking statistic (52 percent) came to light in a recent national survey by Disaboom (www.disaboom.com), the premiere online community for people touched by disability. The survey, launched in an effort to understand America's perception of disability, asked, "Which would you choose: Living with a severe disability that forever alters your ability to live an independent life, or death?"

Despite fair treatment laws and greater socially progressive thinking, Americans still have some startling attitudes about disability, the survey revealed. Attitudes varied by age, income, geographic location and level of education. Survey highlights include:

* Middle-aged Americans were less willing to live with a severe disability than were their older counterparts -- 63 percent of people age 35 to 44 chose death over severe disability versus 50 percent of people 55 to 64 and 56 percent of Americans 65 and older.

* People with higher incomes were more likely to choose death over severe disability. Among those with household income levels of $75,000 or more, 59 percent chose death, versus those with household incomes of $25,000 or less, of whom 45 percent chose death.

* Geographic location affected a person's choice of death over severe disability. While only 45 percent of people living in the South chose death, 61 percent of people in the West would rather die than be severely disabled.

* Americans with higher levels of education would rather die than live with a severe disability. Of those with a college education, 57 percent answered that they'd rather die than live with a severe disability, versus 30 percent of respondents who had not completed a high school education.

"These viewpoints are based on misperceptions," says Dr. Glen House, founder of Disaboom and a quadriplegic since his early 20s. "I encourage people with disabilities to choose instead to live forward." As the first student in a wheelchair to graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine, the first person to climb 14,110-foot Pikes Peak in a wheelchair, and also a doctor, inventor, extreme sports enthusiast, husband and father, House hopes to spark a paradigm shift in the way America views disability.

He encourages people faced with a new disability to choose instead to live meaningful lives by turning to comprehensive online resources like disaboom.com, and following his top five "Tools for Living Forward":

1. Look at what you can do and don't focus on what you can't.
2. Use your disability to your benefit.
3. Now prove you are using your disability to your benefit! No easy roads. Work harder.
4. Look for people who are going through something similar and get their advice. If you can't find someone, be a pioneer.
5. Connect with and use resources.

"I want to share ways for people to understand that disability isn't the end of life, but an unexpected new beginning," House says. "By focusing on these five tools and taking advantage of resources such as disaboom.com, people with disabilities can find the information, community, and connection that will enable them to pave a path that supports new goals and dreams -- and determine the way they will choose to live forward."

For more information about living forward with a disability, visit www.disaboom.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent