Dsability Statistics Consultant
14608 Melinda Lane
Rockville
MDUSA
20853
Biographical Sketch: Barbara M. Altman, Biographical Paragraph
Barbara M. Altman is a sociologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Recently retired from the National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, where she served as Special Assistant on Disability Statistics to the office of the Director, she also worked at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Prior to her work in the government, she served as Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. She currently serves as a consultant on disability statistics issues. She played a key role in the organization and development of the work of the Washington Group, an international group working under the auspices of the United Nations, to develop culturally compatible measures of disability for international use and still consults on that activity. Her disability research interests focus primarily on disability definition and measurement, financing and utilization of health care services by persons with disabilities, and disability among minority groups, particularly Native Americans. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on disability topics including the recent Disability and Health in the United States Chartbook, and currently is co-editor of the series Research in Social Science and Disability. She has also been the recipient of an NIDRR Switzer Fellowship for the purpose of writing a comprehensive book on disability statistics which is forthcoming.