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About the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
Established as the National Institute of Handicapped Research, the Institute's name was changed to the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research by the 1986 Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act.
Read about NIDRR at the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research website
National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research
In creating NIDRR, Congress recognized that research has contributed substantially to improvements in the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families.
Individuals with disabilities live longer, have a better quality of life, enjoy better health than they did 30 years ago, and more advances occur every day. Today it is commonplace to find people in wheelchairs traveling in airplanes and private vehicles, people who are blind using computers, and people who are deaf attending the theater, while individuals who have significant disabilities are being recognized as world leaders in the arts and sciences. These developments owe much to research advances at both the individual and societal levels.
Two developments have converged to enhance the significance of disability research. First, breakthroughs in biomedical and technological sciences have changed the nature of work and community life. As these breakthroughs provide the potential for longer and more fulfilling lives for individuals with disabilities, they reinforce the second major development--successful independent living and civil rights advocacy by disabled persons. This intersection of scientific progress and empowerment of disabled persons has generated momentum for disability research. . . .
In establishing the Institute in 1978, through Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112), Congress created a research institute in the public interest. NIDRR's mandate is to "generate scientifically based knowledge that furthers the values and goals of the disability community, the knowledge needs of service providers, and the creation of rational public policy."
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, (with significant changes in 1992), charged this Institute with the responsibility to provide a comprehensive and coordinated program of research and related activities to maximize the full inclusion and social integration, employment, and independent living of individuals of all ages with disabilities, with particular emphasis on improving the coordination and effectiveness of services authorized under the Act. Related activities were mandated to include the widespread dissemination of research-generated knowledge and practical information to rehabilitation professionals, individuals with disabilities, researchers, and others; the promotion of the transfer of rehabilitation technology; and an increase in opportunities for researchers who are individuals with disabilities or members of minority groups.
-- Adapted from NIDRR's Proposed Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 1999-2004, published in the Federal Register Oct. 26, 1998
Go to the NIDRR website
About the National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research