This national study of attitudes and experiences of disabled persons is a follow-up to the 1986 ICD Survey of Disabled Americans: Bringing Disabled Americans into the Mainstream. As with the 1986 survey, the 1994 follow-up study asked disabled people about their self-perceptions, how their lives have changed in the past decade, what their experiences have been with employment, education, social life, and what they thought must be done to increase their participation in the mainstream of American society.

The 1994 NOD Survey of Americans with Disabilities addressed what it means to be disabled in America by asking a wide range of disabled individuals about the impact of their disability on the quality of their lives, their work, social life, daily activities, education, and personal life. The 1994 study assessed changes in social attitudes and experiences, social activities, and employment opportunities, along with the effects of religion, and the impact of technology and computers that aid disabled people. The survey also focused on barriers that prevented disabled people from working, having a full social life, getting around, or using services; i.e., barriers that excluded them in some way from the mainstream of American life, or prevented them from achieving their goals. The study includes 1,021 cases.