Of the 1.5 million schoolchildren in New Jersey (kids between the ages of five and 17), 4.5 percent have been determined to have a disability — cognitive, hearing, vision, or ambulatory/self-care — according to the 2010 American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s lower than the nation as a whole, which has an average of 5 percent of children classified as disabled.
The Census Bureau study found that children living outside of metropolitan areas were more likely to have disabilities than those living in metropolitan areas. For instance, cognitive disabilities are the most common type of disability nationwide. Approximately 3.8 percent of children in metro areas had a cognitive difficulty while 4.8 percent of children outside metro areas had a cognitive difficulty.
There is no disparity in New Jersey, however, since the entire state is classified as a metropolitan area.