I’m disabled and work professionally in disability arts. Disabled people are at LEAST 25% of the global population, and the current consensus is that that figure is vastly undercounted (the composition of this figure often relies on census data - at least here in Canada I can say with certainty from the work I do that many people do not identify as disabled on the census because they are scared that if they do, they will be “taking something away” from more disabled people because they do not view themselves as “disabled enough,” or in many cases, disabled at all, despite having conditions that constitute a disability). I doubt there has been a marked increase in disabled students, but that these numbers are simply more reflective of the true number of disabled students who have existed on college campuses since Section 504 and the ADA came into effect (and that students now are more willing to seek formal accommodations rather than self-accommodate). If there has been a true increase, I think that is likely attributable to the fact that we have lived through the mass disabling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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