Disability impacts a large number of people – approximately 16 % of the working age population in the EU is afflicted with a long-standing health problem or disability (European Commission, 2007). And this number will grow as the population ages in industrialised countries due to the associated increased susceptibility to mental and physical disorders (Lutz et al., 2011; Pascarelli et al., 2001). Disabilities are extremely diverse and are not a fixed characteristic of individuals. Many disabilities are invisible to the eye yet popular stereotypes of disabled people as permanent wheelchair users or as blind from birth persist.
