Your Experience Matters.
Your Knowledge Can Drive Change.
Take the Survey
Responda la Encuesta
Be part of a collective effort to make meaningful change. Click a button below to take the survey in your language.
If you are disabled, Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf-Blind—or if you support someone who is—your experiences are essential to understanding and ending abuse in our communities.
The 2026–2027 Disability/Deaf and Abuse Survey, led by researchers and advocates with lived and professional experience, invites you to share what you know. This national study will inform policies, services, and protections that better support survivors and prevent future harm.
Who can participate? Respondents must be 18 or older: individuals who have a disability or are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or Deaf-Blind; families and trusted people responding for someone of any age in these communities; and professionals and advocates who work in the disability field.
ASU IRB approved. Time: 30–90 minutes for most participants; about 15 minutes for professionals and advocates. The survey is open through April 2027, Autism Awareness Month.
Questions about the survey: Dr. Allan Colbern | Allan.Colbern@asu.edu
All responses are anonymous and confidential.
Your knowledge will help shape solutions.
Participation is open to individuals, family members, and professionals.
Not taking the survey? You can still help us share it. Learn what volunteers do, or recommend a contact.
Know an organization or person who could help share the survey? Tell us, and our team will reach out. Prefer email? Send your recommendations to Anna Clark (ajclar32@asu.edu) and Dr. Allan Colbern (Allan.Colbern@asu.edu).
↓ Watched the video or read the sheet? Sign up here. ↓
Anyone 18 or older can volunteer. You share the survey with your own networks, using a flyer and ready-made messages we give you. There is no minimum.
FOR OUR RECRUITING TEAM ONLY
Team sign-in: recruitment application
survey-recruitment.disability-abuse-survey-2026-27.workers.dev
Already a volunteer, advisor, or coordinator? Sign in with your email and password. New to the team? Open the first-time sign-in link in your welcome email to create your password. This link opens a separate site, outside The Natalie Project website.
Questions about volunteering? Email Anna Clark, our volunteer coordinator, at ajclar32@asu.edu, and please cc Dr. Allan Colbern at Allan.Colbern@asu.edu.
About the Survey
Early Findings
Abuse is a deeply concerning and widespread problem affecting individuals with disabilities around the world. Unfortunately, due to various barriers and stigma, the experiences and voices of these survivors often go unheard. To address this gap in knowledge and understanding, in partnership, we have embarked on a mission to update and refresh a survey originally conducted in 2012 by the ARC Of Riverside County and Dr. Nora Baladerian.
2012 National Survey
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7,289 people took the survey, led by Dr. Nora J. Baladerian, Thomas F. Coleman, and Jim Stream.
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More than 70% of people with disabilities who took the survey said they had been abused, and more than 90% of them said it happened more than once.
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Many never reported the abuse to authorities; most believed nothing would happen.
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When victims did report, nothing happened in 52.9% of cases, and the person accused was arrested in fewer than 10%.
Our first report, Your Experience Matters, shares early findings from 139 adults who answered the 2026 English survey about their own lives. Below, we set a few of these findings beside the 2012 National Survey on Abuse of People with Disabilities, which this survey builds on. These early findings come from people who chose to take the English survey; they are not estimates for all disabled or Deaf people, and Spanish and ASL responses are not yet included. See more in the full report.
2026 Survey: early findings
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139 adults answered the 2026 English survey about their own lives.
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83% (77 of 93) said they experienced two or more forms of abuse, and 66 of 81 said at least one form of abuse first happened when they were 17 or younger.
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Of those who told someone about the abuse that affected them most, 71% (35 of 49) said “nothing happened” to the person who caused harm.
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New in 2026: ASL and Spanish versions, and questions about communication access and support.
Survey Goals
Assessing Prevalence
By collecting data from a diverse range of participants, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence of abuse among people with disabilities. This information will provide a foundation for further research, intervention, and policy development.
Identifying Support Needs
Understanding the specific needs and challenges faced by survivors of abuse with disabilities is essential for developing effective support systems. The survey will help identify gaps in existing services and inform the creation of accessible and inclusive resources to aid survivors in their healing journey.
Examining Types and Impact
The survey will explore the various forms of abuse experienced by individuals with disabilities, including but not limited to physical assault, coercion, harassment, and exploitation. We will also investigate the short-term and long-term consequences of such abuse on the survivors' physical, psychological, and social well-being.
Collaboration with Experts
To ensure the survey's validity, reliability, and ethical integrity, we have collaborated with renowned experts in the field of abuse and disability. The survey is led by Allan Colbern, PhD, of Arizona State University (Principal Investigator), Nora J. Baladerian, PhD, a licensed psychologist, and Julie Payne-Neward of The Natalie Project, working with the collaborators listed below.
This work was completed through a collaborative effort by:
Meet the team behind the survey.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER, THE NATALIE PROJECT
Nora J. Baladerian, PhD
Licensed Psychologist
ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER, THE NATALIE PROJECT
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Julie Payne-Neward
The Natalie Project
FOUNDER & DIRECTOR
Collaborators
Academic collaborators
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Shawn Walker, PhD (Co-Principal Investigator), Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
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Tiffany Banks, PhD, LCSW-C (Co-Principal Investigator), Assistant Professor of Social Work, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Advisory Council Member, The Natalie Project
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Dr. Margarette Shegog, Family Medicine Physician; Stanford University Affiliate
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Anna Clark, Master's Student, Arizona State University
Advocacy & community collaborators
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Angela Kaufman, MA, CI/CT, Disability/ADA Consultant & ASL Interpreter, AMK
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Amanda G. Somdal, DSW, LCSW, LICSW-S, ASL Collaborator
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Brian A. Moss, BSW, Visual Gestural Specialist