Employment, Education, and Income for Canadians with Developmental Disability: Analysis from the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability.
Patrick Berrigan, Craig W M Scott, Jennifer D Zwicker
PMID 32662052WHAT IT FOUND
Canadians with developmental disability had lower education, employment, income, and housing outcomes than non-disabled people.
Speech therapy was among education supports they reported needing but least commonly provided.
Key findings
01People with developmental disability had much lower educational completion than non-disabled people: 40.0% did not complete high school versus 9.7%, and 70.1% had less than post-secondary education versus 33.1%.
02People with developmental disability had lower employment and income: 26.1% were employed versus 61.6% in national averages, and total income averaged $16,283 versus $49,235 for non-disabled people.
03Speech therapy was among the five least commonly provided educational supports for people with developmental disability.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The survey did not include people younger than 15, people living on First Nations reserves, people in institutions or collective dwellings, or homeless people, so it likely missed many people with disability. Participants were identified through self-reported disability screening questions and, for autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy, through reported conditions linked to diagnostic codes, so some people with these diagnoses may have been missed. The analysis was cross-sectional and descriptive, so it cannot show why outcomes differ or whether a treatment caused them. Many estimates for autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy were suppressed or marked for caution because of small samples or high variability. The survey was online, and Statistics Canada provided alternative formats for some non-respondents, but selection and representation issues remain possible. Income and housing measures did not account for extra costs associated with disability.
Declared interests
The paper names the Sinneave Family Foundation as the funder. No other conflict-of-interest statement is provided.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that speech therapy, workplace accommodations, or government benefits caused better employment, education, or income outcomes. It is a national survey of reported status, and it excluded many people with developmental disability, including younger people and people in institutions or on reserves.