What Is Considered a Disability Under the ADA?

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. You only need to fit one of those three definitions to be protected. Since the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, the definition is read broadly, and in most cases the real question is whether discrimination happened, not whether your condition counts.¹

Each of the three paths stands on its own. A person with well-controlled epilepsy qualifies under the first. A cancer survivor in full remission qualifies under the second. Someone fired over a false rumor about having HIV qualifies under the third. ADA coverage reaches well beyond what most people picture when they hear the word “disability.”

Physical and Mental Impairments That Qualify

A physical impairment is any physiological condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting a body system. That includes neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis, respiratory conditions like asthma, cardiovascular disease, endocrine disorders like diabetes, cancer, cerebral palsy, HIV, and many others.²

A mental impairment is any mental or psychological disorder. Major depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and specific learning disabilities like dyslexia all fall within this category. Personality traits on their own, like being short-tempered or easily distracted, are not impairments. But those same traits can be symptoms of an underlying condition that does qualify.

Episodic Conditions and Conditions in Remission

A condition does not have to be active every day. The law specifically states that an impairment which is episodic or in remission qualifies if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.¹ This matters for conditions like epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and bipolar disorder, where symptoms flare and recede. An employer cannot argue that you aren’t disabled just because you’re having a good week.

Long COVID

Long COVID can qualify when its symptoms substantially limit a major life activity. Persistent fatigue, difficulty concentrating, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations can affect respiratory function, neurological function, or the ability to think, concentrate, and work. Federal guidance confirms the same individualized assessment applies as with any other condition, and the limitations do not need to be severe or permanent.³

Pregnancy-Related Conditions

Pregnancy itself is not a disability under the ADA. Pregnancy-related medical conditions can be. Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or severe morning sickness that substantially limits a major life activity each qualifies independently. Workers in this situation may also have protections under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which took effect in 2023 and covers a broader range of pregnancy-related limitations without requiring them to rise to the level of a disability.⁴

What “Substantially Limits a Major Life Activity” Means

For the first prong of the definition, the impairment must “substantially limit” at least one “major life activity.” Both terms are read broadly. The standard is not demanding: an impairment does not need to prevent or severely restrict the activity. The comparison is between how you perform the activity and how most people in the general population perform it, and that comparison usually doesn’t require medical or scientific evidence.²

Major life activities fall into two categories. The first covers everyday actions: caring for yourself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.⁵

The second covers the operation of major bodily functions, including the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions. A person with cancer whose tumor growth is the only symptom they notice still has a disability, because normal cell growth is a major bodily function that is substantially limited.⁵

The Mitigating Measures Rule

When deciding whether a condition substantially limits a major life activity, the analysis ignores any medication, medical device, therapy, or other measure used to manage symptoms. If your epilepsy is fully controlled by medication, the question is what your epilepsy would look like without the medication. The same applies to hearing aids, prosthetic limbs, insulin, behavioral therapy, and other treatments.⁶

There is one exception: ordinary eyeglasses and contact lenses that fully correct vision. If standard corrective lenses eliminate the visual limitation, that person does not have a disability based on their vision. The exception does not extend to specialized low-vision devices or other assistive technology for sight.⁷

A Record of a Disability

The second way to qualify is having a record or history of a substantially limiting impairment. You don’t need to be currently limited. The clearest example is a cancer survivor in remission: the cancer previously limited major bodily functions, and that history alone triggers protection. An employer who refuses to promote someone because of a past diagnosis of depression or a prior hospitalization is discriminating on the basis of disability, even if the person is now fully recovered.¹

Being Regarded as Having a Disability

The third path covers people who face discrimination because of a perceived impairment, whether or not it actually exists or actually limits anything. You meet this definition if you are subjected to a prohibited action — like being fired, denied a promotion, or refused service — because of an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment. The impairment does not need to substantially limit a major life activity under this prong.¹

One defense is available: the “regarded as” prong does not apply to impairments that are both transitory and minor. “Transitory” means an actual or expected duration of six months or less. Both conditions must be met. An impairment that is minor but long-lasting, or serious but short-lived, can still support a “regarded as” claim. This is where common colds and sprained ankles fall out of ADA coverage: they are both brief and minor.

One important limit applies here. People protected only under the “regarded as” prong are not entitled to reasonable accommodations from their employer. Accommodations are available to people who meet the first definition (actual current impairment) or the second (record of impairment).⁸

Conditions the ADA Does Not Cover

The law explicitly excludes several categories of conditions from the definition of disability. The most significant is the current illegal use of drugs. A person actively using illegal drugs is not protected when the employer or other covered entity acts based on that use. The law does protect people who have completed rehabilitation and are no longer using, as well as those currently participating in a supervised rehabilitation program.⁹ The line the statute draws is between current illegal use and a history of addiction that has been addressed through treatment.

A separate provision excludes additional conditions by name: compulsive gambling, kleptomania, and pyromania; certain sexual behavior disorders, including pedophilia, exhibitionism, and voyeurism; and homosexuality and bisexuality, which the statute states are “not impairments” and therefore not disabilities.¹⁰

Association With a Person Who Has a Disability

You don’t have to have a disability yourself to face disability-based discrimination. The ADA prohibits adverse actions against someone because of their known relationship or association with a person who has a disability. This can be a family member, a friend, or anyone else; the law doesn’t require a specific type of relationship.¹¹

An employer cannot refuse to hire you because your spouse has cancer and they’re worried about insurance costs. They cannot pass you over for a promotion because your child has a disability and they assume you’ll miss too much work. But the association provision does not entitle you to receive reasonable accommodations yourself; it only protects you from discrimination.¹¹

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12102 – Definition of Disability
2
ADA.gov. Title II Regulations – Section: 35.108 Definition of Disability
3
HHS.gov. Guidance on Long COVID as a Disability Under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557
4
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
5
Legal Information Institute. Major Life Activity
6
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers on the Final Rule Implementing the ADA Amendments Act of 2008
7
U.S. Department of Labor. ADA Amendments Act of 2008 Frequently Asked Questions
8
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12114 – Illegal Use of Drugs and Alcohol
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 12211 – Definitions
11
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Questions and Answers – Association Provision of the ADA