Memo to Robin Vos: Data show Jimmy Anderson is not alone

Wheelchair-bound and personal helper-dependent State Rep. Jimmy Anderson is not alone, data show.

But WI GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos - - chosen by his party to be two heartbeats away from the Governorship - - is refusing to allow Anderson - - paralyzed from the chest down by a drunk driver who struck Anderson's car - - to participate in committee meetings by phone - - and then made himself into the victim by dimwittingly accusing Anderson of "grandstanding" for having publicly criticized Vos' inflexibility.

Well done, Mr. Speaker: you've made The Washington Post and put Wisconsin in the national spotlight.

I wonder if Vos knows how many tens of thousands and more Wisconsinites report one or more disabilities or circumstances similar to what State Rep. Jimmy Anderson - - 


- - Vos's target, appears to deal with.

The State Department of Health Services, (DHS) website has posted data by county.

Here are some numbers for Dane County, where Anderson's district lies,  in one chart, among many in a report:

Disability Tallies: Age 18+	Wisconsin	Brown	Dane	Dodge	Eau Claire	Fond du Lac
18 years and over:	4,230,842	181,067	372,112	63,454	76,447	76,553
Number age 18+ with any disability	543,602	17,869	39,693	8,015	8,228	10,309
Percent age 18+ with any disability	12.8%	9.9%	10.7%	12.6%	10.8%	13.5%
With a hearing difficulty	172,620	5,672	10,985	2,685	2,741	2,648
% with a hearing difficulty	4.1%	3.1%	3.0%	4.2%	3.6%	3.5%
With a vision difficulty	81,979	3,333	6,384	854	1,302	1,376
% with a vision difficulty	1.9%	1.8%	1.7%	1.3%	1.7%	1.8%
With a cognitive difficulty	176,886	5,987	16,018	2,687	2,277	3,305
% with a cognitive difficulty	4.2%	3.3%	4.3%	4.2%	3.0%	4.3%
With an ambulatory difficulty	284,414	9,345	18,636	3,758	3,896	5,709
% with an ambulatory difficulty	6.7%	5.2%	5.0%	5.9%	5.1%	7.5%
With a self-care difficulty	101,022	3,577	7,828	908	1,194	1,622
% with a self-care difficulty	2.4%	2.0%	2.1%	1.4%	1.6%	2.1%
With an independent living difficulty	199,860	7,165	15,788	2,286	3,983	3,895
% with an independent living difficulty	4.7%	4.0%	4.2%	3.6%	5.2%	5.1%

And here are the same categories for Racine County, Vos' base:

Disability Tallies: Age 65+	Wisconsin	Racine	Rock	St. Croix	Sheboygan	Walworth
65 years and over, Total	713,214	24,016	19,657	7,356	15,168	12,018
Number age 65+ with any disability	236,200	7,952	7,338	2,661	5,404	3,949
Percent age 65+ with any disability	33.1%	33.1%	37.3%	36.2%	35.6%	32.9%
With a hearing difficulty	102,551	3,314	3,762	1,206	1,996	2,234
% with a hearing difficulty	14.4%	13.8%	19.1%	16.4%	13.2%	18.6%
With a vision difficulty	39,348	1,632	1,396	528	832	676
% with a vision difficulty	5.5%	6.8%	7.1%	7.2%	5.5%	5.6%
With a cognitive difficulty	49,463	1,821	1,740	877	829	842
% with a cognitive difficulty	6.9%	7.6%	8.9%	11.9%	5.5%	7.0%
With an ambulatory difficulty	142,881	4,829	4,678	1,529	3,022	2,085
% with an ambulatory difficulty	20.0%	20.1%	23.8%	20.8%	19.9%	17.3%
With a self-care difficulty	50,053	2,055	1,549	452	825	847
% with a self-care difficulty	7.0%	8.6%	7.9%	6.1%	5.4%	7.0%
With an independent living difficulty	95,320	4,150	2,497	1,039	2,523	1,137
% with an independent living difficulty	13.4%	17.3%	12.7%	14.1%	16.6%	9.5%

Here also from DHS are Census Bureau statewide data I have copied out below in full (if people have later, or better data, please put it in the comments and I will review it:

Disability in Wisconsin, 2008 American Community Survey 2008 Single-Year Estimates

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey is an ongoing survey that covers the same type of information previously collected every ten years by the decennial Census long form questionnaire. The American Community Survey (ACS) will replace the long form survey in the 2010 Census. Because ACS data are collected continuously, the Census Bureau will release new information every year, so it is no longer necessary to rely on a 10-year snapshot that becomes more dated throughout the decade.

NOTE that the ACS definition of disability changed substantially between 2007 and 2008, making it difficult to compare these statistics to those from prior years (including Census 2000). A brief summary of the definition of each category of disability is provided beneath each table. For further information about these definitions and about changes to the ACS disability questions, go to:

:http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/disability/2008ACS_disability.pdf

In the summary below, numbers and percents represent estimated average values for each item over the 12 months of 2008. For complete information about sampling, calculating estimates, and other aspects of the ACS, visit the Census Bureau's ACS website at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
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Let me pull out three charts with relevancy to what I understand is Rep. Anderson's situation:

Persons reporting "Ambulatory Difficulty," by age group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
5-17 years	947,950	4,341	0.5%
18-64 years	3,517,628	141,533	4.0%
65 years or more	713,214	142,881	20.0%
Ambulatory difficulty : Those who report that they have “serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18105

Persons reporting "Self-Care Difficulty," by age group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
5-17 years	947,950	7,379	0.8%
18-64 years	3,517,628	50,969	1.4%
65 years or more	713,214	50,053	7.0%
Self-care limitation: Those who report that they have “difficulty dressing or bathing.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18106

Persons reporting "Independent Living Difficulty," by age group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
18-64 years	3,517,628	104,540	3.0%
65 years or more	713,214	95,320	13.4%
Independent-living limitation : Those who report that they have difficulty “doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18107

Other Data:

Persons reporting "Any Disability," by age group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
Under 18 years	1,309,167	50,562	3.9%
18-64 years	3,517,628	307,402	8.7%
65 years or more	713,214	236,200	33.1%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18101

Persons Reporting "Hearing Difficulty," by Age Group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
5-17 years	1,309,167	6,868	0.5%
18-64 years	3,517,628	70,069	2.0%
65 years or more	713,214	102,551	14.4%
Hearing limitation : those who report that they are “deaf or have serious difficulty hearing.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18102

\

Persons Reporting "Vision Difficulty," by Age Group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
5-17 years	1,309,167	6,035	0.5%
18-64 years	3,517,628	42,631	1.2%
65 years or more	713,214	39,348	5.5%
Vision limitation : Those who report that they are “blind or have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18103

Persons Reporting "Cognitive Difficulty," by Age Group
	Population Total	Number with disability	Percent with disability
5-17 years	947,950	38,982	4.1%
18-64 years	3,517,628	127,423	3.6%
65 years or more	713,214	49,463	6.9%
Limitations in cognitive functioning : Those who report that, due to physical, mental, or emotional condition, they have “serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.”
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18104

Employment status by ACS disability status and age group
	Population Total	Number employed	Percent employed
18-34 years with any disability	64,493	31,600	49.0%
18-34 years with NO disability	1,180,905	952,035	80.6%
35-64 years with any disability	242,909	109,619	45.1%
35-64 years with NO disability	2,029,321	1,701,993	83.9%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18120

Full-time work status, by sex and ACS disability status
	Population Total	Number working full-time, year- round	Percent working full-time, year- round
Males reporting any disability	174,137	50,539	29.0%
Males reporting NO disability	1,713,961	1,102,324	64.3%
Females reporting any disability	159,186	32,963	20.7%
Females reporting NO disability	1,678,189	813,411	48.5%
These statistics recorded only for those age 16-64 years of age.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C23023

Median earnings in past 12 months, by ACS disability status and sex
	Total (both sexes)	Males	Females
Annual earnings: Persons reporting any disability	$17,360	$22,545	$13,329
Annual earnings: Persons reporting NO disability	$30,164	$36,435	$24,061
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18140

Poverty status by ACS disability status and age group
	Population Total	Number w. income below poverty	Percent w. income below poverty
Under 18 years, with any disability	49,533	11,790	23.8%
Under 18 years with NO disability	1,243,622	160,390	12.9%
18-64 years, with any disability	304,677	70,148	23.0%
18-64 years with NO disability	3,157,556	266,613	8.4%
65+ years with any disability	236,200	28,309	12.0%
65+ years with NO disability	477,014	31,632	6.6%
NOTE: Numbers represent persons for whom poverty information is available (and therefore, they do not match numbers in other tables).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table C18130

Food Stamp status of households, by presence of any ACS disability
	Total number of households	Number receiving food stamps	Percent receiving food stamps
Households with 1 or more persons with a disability	472,048	62,852	13.3%
Households with NO persons with a disability	1,777,582	84,697	4.8%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, Table B22010

Prepared by Cindy Ofstead, DHS Bureau of Aging and Disability Resources, 2/2010.