To address this, the regulations issued last month expand the pool of individuals who may be considered disabled. While they maintain the definition of the term "disability," as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such impairment, or being regarded as having a disability, they change the interpretation, according to the statement. For instance, to the list of "major life activities," the regulations add eating, sleeping, walking, standing, and sitting, as well as the operation of a major bodily function, such as the digestive and respiratory functions, according to .

What's more, the impairment doesn't have to prevent or significantly restrict an individual from performing the activity. It only needs to limit the ability of an individual to perform it, when compared to most people in the general population. And, the impairment can be episodic or in remission, if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active. This covers conditions like asthma, cancer and epilepsy, the EEOC's Q&A said.

The new regs are . "The regulations will greatly simplify the determination of whether a person has a disability and allow courts and other decision-makers to turn quickly to determining whether unlawful discrimination has occurred in the workplace, the AAPD said in a statement.