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Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS)

"Disability" Under ADA

Reference Number: MTAS-1051
Reviewed Date: 10/21/2022

The ADA law defines a current disability as a medical condition or disorder referred to as an ”impairment” that substantially limits one or more major life activities. For an impairment to rise to the level of a disability under ADA, it must substantially limit a major life activity. An impairment alone is not automatically a disability.

An “individual with a disability” is an individual who:

  • has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a “major life activity,” or;
  • has a record of such an impairment, or;
  • is regarded as having such impairment.