Disability
Definitions:Impairment: Refers to physical or mental limitations such as difficulty walking
Handicap: The disadvantage experienced by a person as a result of impairments
Disability: Disability is the umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions, referring to the negative aspects of the interaction between an individual (with a health condition) and that individual’s contextual factors (environmental and personal factors)outcome or result of a complex relationship between an individual’s:
health condition
personal factors
external factors
Definitions Of Disability:
1-Mental Retardation
Definition: People with mental retardation have trouble learning, absorbing, and practicing everyday skills.
Causes:
1. Genetics - where the baby was born with mental retardation.
2. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) - where the mother used alcohol during pregnancy, which makes this a preventable form of retardation;
3. Birth complications - where the child experienced anoxia (no oxygen) or hypoxia (not enough oxygen) during birth, which resulted in mental retardation;
4. Trauma to the head - where damage occurred or severe illness such as meningitis may also cause mental retardation.
Life Skills: Mental retardation cannot be cured; however, in a nurturing, patient environment, children and adults can often learn important skills such as toileting, reading, and speaking. There are different levels of severity in retardation; some people are able to have more independence than others. Most have difficulty communicating, which can be disturbing to their confidence and well-being.
Resources: There are programs and information that assist mentally retarded people with living a fulfilling life. For example, schools are required to develop individual education plans (IEPs) for children. Family, friends, and teachers can also teach social rules and self-care (dressing, teeth brushing) through the use of educational games
2-Specific Learning Disabilities
Definition: Learning disability is defined by law as "an imperfect ability to read, write, speak, or perform mathematical calculations, which is not due to physical, sensory or emotional impairment, mental retardation or socio-cultural disadvantage.
Causes:
A learning disability is not, by any means, a measure of a person’s intelligence. In fact, if you read the legal definition above, it specifically states that children with mental retardation are not included in this category. However, students with learning disabilities experience certain obstacles that do not allow them to be educated in the usual way. The most well-known type of learning disability is probably dyslexia. Dyslexia is a difficulty processing letters, numbers and other symbols. The most familiar characteristic of dyslexia is letter reversal, writing or reading "d" for "b", for example, or "p" for "q".
Life Skills: Programs for achieving basic academic and social skills, vocational training, two-year degrees, four year degrees, and graduate programs are available ; most of these programs are available only within educational institutions. (Learning Disabilities Association of America, 2005).
Resources: Because learning disabilities are primarily diagnosed in educational environments, they are the best resource for local, state, and national resources.
3-Serious emotional disturbance
Definition: These are behavior disorders or mental illnesses that persist over a long period of time and affect educational performance. This includes ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder), depression, bipolar disorder, conduct disorders and eating disorders .
Causes: Genetics, environment and a combination of the two can all contribute to these disorders. Behavior disorders may be inherited through one's genes, due to a chemical imbalance in the brain or occur as a result of brain injury. The person’s surroundings can also come into play. If the youth has been exposed to abuse, extreme stress, a death or loss in the family, and/or violence, he/she is more likely to develop these disorders.
Life Skills: In some cases, medication can be used to treat the disorder. In all cases, people with disabilities and their families can be helped by an understanding of the disorder and through families/communities working together to support the person. Teaching students how to overcome these disturbances is a time-consuming process, but often in conjunction with medication, it is possible.
Resources: In deciding if a student has a disorder that would fall into this category, medical and psychological evaluations should take place. A physician/pediatrician should almost always be consulted in these cases as should a therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist. Teachers and schools should accommodate students with these disturbances by providing a specialized education plan.
4-Visual Impairment:
Definition: The terms partially sighted, low vision, legally blind, and totally blind are used in the schools to describe students with visual impairments. They are defined as:
1. "Partially sighted" indicates some type of visual problem has resulted in a need for special education;
2. "Low vision" generally refers to a severe visual impairment, not necessarily limited to distance vision. Low vision applies to all individuals with sight who are unable to read the newspaper at a normal viewing distance, even with the aid of eyeglasses or contact lenses;
3. "Legally blind" means that a person has less than 20/200 vision in the better eye or a very limited field of vision (20 degrees at its widest point)
4. “Totally blind” students learn via braille or other non-visual media.
Causes: Congenital blindness may be hereditary or be the result of infection at birth; however, other diseases may also result in blindness such as: amblyopia; diabetic retinopathy; glaucoma; macular degeneration; and trachoma
Life Skills: Emphasis on basic skills such as eating, bathing, and dressing is given for the visually impaired. Because a huge majority of the learning process comes through sight, recognized learning strategies should be employed (Lichman, 2002).
Resources: Assessment is the first step to accessing resources for the individual. The severity of visual impairment must first be realized before the type of resources can be determined
5-Hearing impairment
Definition: This is one of the categories that has most changed under the new classification. Once encompassing all levels of hearing loss, it is now broken up into three areas. The first, hearing impairment is a group in which there is an impairment in hearing that affects a child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness, which is a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in understanding speech.
Causes: The most common cause of hearing loss in children is an infection of the middle ear called otitis media. Another large group of children acquired their hearing loss due to factors such as noise, drugs and toxins. Some acquired hearing loss may be a result of heredity.
Life Skills: According to Moss (2005), you should observe the way the individual uses their hearing and assist them in building their listening skills through encouragement and rewards. In some cases, adaptive hearing devices can help a student with hearing impairment, but even students with these devices cannot necessarily hear at the same level as a student without a hearing impairment. Every effort should be made to ensure a positive and meaningful experience for the person. When necessary, an interpreter should be provided. Integrating sign language into the curriculum can also improve the learning experience.
Resources: Each state defines the degree of hearing loss which determines a student's eligibility for special education services. Hard of hearing is defined as a hearing loss of 35-60 decibel in the better ear. In addition, to be eligible for special education services, the hearing loss must affect the student's educational performance
6-Deafness:
Definition: Deafness is now a category of its own and means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in understanding speech.
Causes: The most common cause of hearing loss in children is an infection of the middle ear called otitis media. Another large group of children acquired their hearing loss due to factors such as noise, drugs and toxins.
Life Skills: Communication is a major issue among students with deafness. An interpreter should be provided and integrating sign language into the curriculum can also improve the learning experience.
Resources: Each state defines the degree of hearing loss which determines a student's eligibility for special education services. Deafness is usually defined as a hearing loss of 70 decibels or greater in the better ear.
7-Deaf-blindness:
Definition: This was previously grouped with hearing impairments and deafness, but should stand on its own. Deaf-blindness means a combination of hearing and visual impairments which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
Causes: Illness, accident or genetics can result in deaf-blindness. Hereditary causes can include Usher Syndrome and Down Syndrome. Other causes are issues that result from problems associated with premature birth, rubella and meningitis.
Life Skills: Persons with deaf-blindness can become isolated from the world around them if not worked with properly. Establishing a method of communication is key and several such methods exist. Teaching individuals how to be self-sufficient as much as possible such as getting dressed, getting around the home, etc., should also be a point of focus.
Resources: As stated above, deaf-blind individuals need to be accommodated in special education programs or with special education services that are specifically target toward deaf-blindness. State and local resources will include schools, special education professionals and medical professionals
8-Speech or language impairment
Definition: Communication or language disorders are disorders that affect communication and/or oral functioning that affects speech. These range from sound substitution or inability to produce certain sounds to the inability to understand language or produce speech that can be understood. The two types of speech disorders are: 1. Articulation disorder is when a child has a problem making the sounds necessary for speech such as stuttering or a lisp; 2. A phonological disorder is when a child has trouble with her actual voice when trying to make sounds.
Causes:
There are a variety of causes for speech and language disorders such as hearing loss, autism, cerebral palsy, neurological disorders, brain injury and mental retardation. Physical problems such as cleft palate or lip (where the lip is split) may also occur. A language disorder is when a person cannot understand and/or communicate with other people because of some type of problem in the brain. Children with language disorders may have trouble with matching a word with its meaning, creating sentences, or comprehending what someone is saying.
Life Skills: Speech-language pathologists work directly with the child, family and teacher to improve a child’s speech. She can develop a therapy plan for a child that may involve exercises to work on certain sounds. She can talk to the student’s teacher about ways to help the child communicate in the classroom. There are also products on the market, such as computers with a speech function, that students may be able to use to communicate better.
Resources: Language disorders tend to be complex because they often involve cognitive problems, or problems with the brain. Because the early years of a child’s life are when language skills are developing, it is important that these disorders be caught as early as possible in order to begin treatment and work on overcoming or dealing with the disorder. Speech therapists can be valuable depending on the impairment.
9-Autism:
Definition: This category includes people with all levels of pervasive development disorder – the most known of which being autism. Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett’s Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder are also classified under PDD. All of have common deficits in social interaction and communication. Often, people with these disorders show very little interest in other people. They have a limited number of interests. They also tend to have difficulty with change and find comfort in repetition and structure.
Causes: Although the number of children diagnosed with autism has risen dramatically in the last 30 years, still no one knows what causes autism. Theories abound, but none have been proven to date.
Life Skills: Autistic individuals may have average or above average intelligence, however, their autism can keep them from achieving many goals. Because the two main facets of autism are issues with social interaction and communication, these are areas that need to be worked on to help people with this disorder to function in society.
Resources: Special education professionals, medical professionals and those who work in the psychological and psychiatric fields can be resources as far as information when it comes to autism. Local, state and national organizations can offer both information and support services as well.
10-Orthopedic impairment
Definition: an individual with an physical disability is a person who:
1. has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
2. has a record of such an impairment.
3. is regarded as having such an impairment.
These conditions can be related to any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems such as neurological or muscoskeletal.
Causes: Causes for physical disabilities range from birth defects such as cerebral palsy or spina bifida to impairment resulting from degenerative or progressive diseases such as muscular dystrophy. Accidents are another cause.
Life Skills: Regardless of the physical disability, life skills should focus on assisting the individual with gaining the skills to increase their quality of life and independence. Skills should be broad, problem solving, age appropriate, and useful to the learner.
Resources: Physical disabilities affect motion and motor skills that we depend on every day of our lives. Depending on the disability and the age of the disabled person, most states have resources available through elementary, high school, colleges, and employment offices.
11-Multiple Disabilities
Definition: A combination of disabilities, such as mental retardation and orthopedic impairment, that cannot be served in programs for either individual disability alone.
Causes: Obviously, the causes can vary greatly. Sometimes they may be the result of the same things- such as a genetic issue, illness, or accident, other times, they may be unrelated.
Life Skills: Once assessments have been completed to determine the capabilities of the individual, life skills should set realistic goals that will assist the disabled in having success and increased confidence in their capabilities.
Resources: Any resources in addition to standard state, local and national agencies & local special education professionals will likely vary depending on disabilities.
12-Traumatic brain injury:
Definition: Damage to the brain caused by illness or accident. Brain injury is the most common cause of death and disability in children. A person with a mild traumatic brain injury may lose consciousness or memory at the time of the accident. They may look all right on the outside but have lasting changes in their personality or thinking. Other times, the effects can be even more serious causing mental retardation, learning disabilities, loss of vision or speech, inability to remember new things and number of other complications.
Causes: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) usually occurs in an accident. During an accident, the brain literally bounces back and forth inside the skull, often hitting in both the front and the back of the brain. Brain injury can also occur due to hypoxia (not enough oxygen) or anoxia (no oxygen). This occurs in drowning, suffocation and sometimes due to problems at birth.
Trends in health conditions associated with disability:
Infectious diseases:
Infectious diseases, may create, or be defined in terms of impairments. They are estimated to account for 9% of the years lived with disability in low-income and middle-income countries .
Prominent among them are lymphatic filariasis, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Less prominent are diseases with neurological consequences, such as encephalitis , meningitis , and childhood cluster diseases – such as measles, mumps, and poliomyelitis
Noncommunicable chronic diseases
The increase in diabetes, cardiovascular diseases (heart disease and stroke), mental disorders, cancer, and respiratory illnesses, observed in all parts of the world, will have a profound effect on disability . They are estimated to account for 66.5% of all years lived with disability in low-income and middle-income countries
Injuries
Road traffic injury, occupational injury, violence, and humanitarian crises have long been recognized as contributors to disability . However, data on the magnitude of their contribution are very limited.
Injury surveillance tends to focus exclusively on near-term outcomes such as mortality or the acute-care consequences of injury . For example, between 1.2 million and 1.4 million people die every year as a result of road traffic crashes. A further 20 to 50 million more are injured . The number of people disabled as a result of these crashes is not well documented.
Prevalence of disability:
The two sources of statistical information to estimate global disability prevalence in this Report, the World Health Survey and the Global Burden of Disease, both have limitations with regard to disability. So the prevalence estimates presented here should be taken not as definitive but as reflecting current knowledge and available data.
The average prevalence rate for adults with very significant difficulties was estimated at 2.2% or about 92 million people in 2004.If the prevalence figures are extrapolated to cover adults 15 years and older, around 720 million people have difficulties in functioning with around 100 million experiencing very significant difficulties.
Across all countries, vulnerable groups such as women, those in the poorest wealth quintile, and older people had higher prevalence of disability. For all these groups the rate was higher in developing countries.
The prevalence of disability in lower income countries ,among people aged 60 years and above, for instance, was 43.4%, compared with 29.5% in higher income countries.
Several limitations or uncertainties surrounding the World Health Survey data. These include the valid debate regarding how best to set the threshold for disability, and the still unexplained variations across countries in self-reported difficulties in functioning, and the influence of cultural differences in expectations about functional ..
the Global Burden of Disease for 2000–2004, drawing on available data sources to produce estimates of incidence, prevalence, severity, duration, and mortality for more than 130 health conditions for 17 subregions of the world . The Global Burden of Disease study starts with the prevalence of diseases and injuries and distributions of limitations in functioning – where available – in different regions of the world, and then estimates the severity of related disability
The analysis of the Global Burden of Disease 2004 data for this Report estimates that 15.3% of the world population (some 978 million people of the estimated 6.4 billion in 2004 had “moderate or severe disability
2.9% or about 185 million experienced “severe disability”. Among those aged 0–14 years, the figures were 5.1% and 0.7%, or 93 million and 13 million children, respectively. Among those 15 years and older, the figures were 19.4% and 3.8%, or 892 million and 175 million, respectively.