“COVID-19 Death Rates Higher Among Those with Developmental Disabilities.”

Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was quoted in the Spectrum News piece “COVID-19 Death Rates Higher Among Those with Developmental Disabilities.” Professor Landes specializes in the sociology of disability, and the majority of his research focuses on health and mortality trends across the life course for those with developmental disability. He says that “COVID-19 death rates are higher among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) compared to those without.” Landes says those with intellectual and development disabilities are more susceptible to a disease like COVID-19 because many have “swallowing problems or disorders, or choking disorders, or just more susceptibility to lung infections”. The disability community is facing great challenges during this time, Landes said, especially for those “living in congregate residential settings” who do not have budgets prepared for a pandemic. Ultimately Landes says “the best treatment for this population would be a vaccine,” but he is also advocating “for accurate death reporting that states the medical reason a person with IDD died and not their disability.”