Attitudes of individuals with acquired brain injury towards disability

OBJECTIVE: To describe the relationships between acceptance of disability, attitudes towards disability, quality of life, functional ability, community integration, and demographic markers, in individuals with acquired brain injuries. METHOD: Forty subjects completed four self-report instruments, including the Attitudes Towards Persons with Disabilities Scale O-Version, the Acceptance of Disability Scale, the Rand-36 Health Status Inventory, and the Community Integration Questionnaire. An observer completed the Functional Independence Measure and the Functional Assessment Measure as a measure of the subject's level of disability. RESULTS: Significant correlations appeared between positive regard for one's own and other's disabilities and one's acceptance of disability, as well as both higher health status and community integration. No significant correlations appeared between positive attitudes and either physical functioning, age, age of onset, or time since injury. CONCLUSION: Situational factors, such as community integration, can be manipulated to potentially influence the attitude of an individual with acquired brain injury towards themselves and towards others with disabilities.