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Kōrero: Disability and disability organisations

Causes of impairments for disabled adults and children

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There are marked differences between child and adult causes of disability. For children with disabilities, most impairments were present at birth. For adults, disease and illness was the main cause of impairment, followed by accident and injury.

An impairment is the term for the actual condition that someone has. Disabled people can have multiple impairments and these may have more than one cause, which is why the percentages on this graph add up to more than 100%.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Source: Statistics New Zealand, Disability Survey: 2013

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Martin Sullivan, Disability and disability organisations – Patterns of disability, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/graph/29188/causes-of-impairments-for-disabled-adults-and-children (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Martin Sullivan, i tāngia i te 30 March 2011.