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Homework 2: Disability Deep-Dive

This homework is worth 100 points.

It should be done individually.

HW2 is due on Gradescope on Friday, September 4, 2026 11:59pm ET.

Note

This is the rare assignment due on a Friday night. Monday, September 7, 2026 is Labor Day, a US and CMU holiday. There are no classes on Monday. Enjoy the three-day weekend with no homework!

Learning Goals

  • Gain deep background in a disability of your choice
  • Learn to find resources for a particular disability on the Internet.

Project Context

Many people are drawn to accessibility work due to personal connections to people in their lives who have a particular disability. This homework gives you the opportunity to learn as much as you can about a chosen disability and explain that to us in your writeup. We provide a structure for you to use in your writeup which will help guide you towards the important concepts in your understanding of disability.

Getting Started

First, choose a disability category for this homework assignment. The available categories are sight, hearing, speaking, mobility, cognition, and chronic illness.

These are just categories, not specific disabilities. For example, the vision category includes retinosis pigmentosa, a specific disability with its own unique form of progressive visual impairment.

From within your chosen disability category, pick a specific disability to write about for this homework.

Instructions

Answer the following questions on Gradescope.

Note

When asked to cite sources, you must include "in-text citations" in APA style. The final question in Gradescope asks you to write down a bibliography of the combined set of references cited over your entire homework assignment.

  1. Name of the specific disability.
  2. What is the medical definition of this disability?
  3. What is the definition of this disability from the perspective of the social model of disability? i.e., What barriers in the world are emblematic of this disability?
  4. What functional impairments are common with this disability?
  5. What is the estimated incidence of this disability in the US population and in the world population?
  6. What are the causes of this disability? How and when does an individual acquire this disability?
  7. How has our understanding of this disability changed over time? Start with prehistory and work your way to the modern era.
  8. Identify three famous people who have had this disability. For each person, write down one sentence about how this disability has affected or defined their lives.
  9. Identify three advocacy organizations associated with this disability. For each organization, write down one sentence about how this organization advocates for the disability.
  10. Identify three assistive technologies used by people with this disability and explain how each helps them adapt to the world around them.
  11. Why did you pick this disability for the homework assignment?
  12. Write a numbered list of all references cited above using APA style. Sort them alphabetically by the last name of the first author. If the author is an organization, use the first word in the organization's name to alphabetize it.

Citations

When do we cite?

  1. When quoting or paraphrasing someone else's words, ideas, or research.
    1. INCORRECT (no citation): "Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition involving persistent challenges with social communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior..."
    2. CORRECT: "As stated by Smith et. al. [5], 'Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a ....'"
    3. Also CORRECT: "'Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a ...' (Smith, 2013)"
  2. When presenting previously reported data, statistics, or findings.
    1. INCORRECT (no citation): "The incidence of autism in the US is 1 in 36."
    2. CORRECT: "The incidence of autism in the US is 1 in 36 (CDC, 2024)."
    3. INCORRECT: "As of 2023, approximately 6.7 million Americans ... are living with Alzheimer’s. Worldwide, over 55 million people have dementia with Alzheimer’s comprising 60-70% of these cases [6]."
      1. What’s wrong? Two different statistics are presented; placing the citation at the end makes it unclear which specific information is being supported by the citation.
    4. CORRECT: "As of 2023, approximately 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s [6]. Worldwide, over 55 million people have dementia, with Alzheimer’s comprising 60-70% of these cases [6]."
  3. To support your claims.
    1. INCORRECT (no citation): "Mobility disability refers to the inability of a person to ... "
    2. CORRECT: "Mobility disability refers to the inability of a person to ... (Jackson, 2024)."
      1. Here, we place a citation after our sentence to indicate that the entire statement is sourced from the referenced material.
    3. INCORRECT (no citation): "As defined by the US medical establishment, deafness is... "
    4. CORRECT: "As defined by the US medical establishment (Hsin, 2024), deafness is... "
      1. Placing a citation after "US medical establishment" specifically supports how the term, "deafness" is defined by the "US medical establishment."
  4. When using copies or derivations of visuals or media created by someone else.

How should we cite?

  1. Use in-text citations to provide "pointers" to the full references; e.g., (Smith, 2024), [4], (Smith 2024, p. 50)
  2. At the end of a document, provide full bibliogrpahic information for all cited references. Organize these references alphabetically, or if using numbered in-text citations, organize them in the order the references are introduced.

Submission

Answer these questions directly on Gradescope's HW2 Assignment.