Mental illness is biggest disability in Idaho

BOISE – The first survey in a decade of Idaho’s disabled population shows that more than 44 percent of the state’s households include a person with some sort of a disability. In all, there were 13 different categories in the Boise State University-sponsored study, which measured a broad range of handicaps. Mental illness was the most common disability, at about 20 percent. Difficulty walking was second at 15 percent, followed by learning disorders at 14.3 percent.

About a quarter of Idaho’s disabled population work full time, and more than four-fifths of the state’s disabled population lives “independently” or “somewhat independently,” according to the authors of the study.