The Different Types of Disabilities
Disabilities come in many different shapes and sizes, but that does not mean those with disabilities are any different than those without them. The main definition of the term “disability” is: having a physical or mental condition in which limits one's movements or abilities.
The word “disabled” is an adjective, meaning you should not refer to somebody as being part of “the disabled” as this may come off as disrespectful. It is important to ensure you are referring to them as “a person with disabilities”.
There are two common areas of disabilities: learning and physical disabilities. Physical disabilities affect a person’s mobility, which means the individual with a physical disability may need equipment for assistance. Furthermore, there are many causes of a physical disability including genetic disorders, serious illness or injury. On the other hand, learning disabilities refer to individuals that have a reduced capacity to learn tasks or process information, this makes it difficult for a person to communicate what they know. Learning disabilities causes difficulties in writing, reading and mathematics and they affect between 3% and 10% of the population. Individuals with learning disabilities are often intelligent, productive and creative.
Physical Disabilities:
There are many different types of physical disabilities but the most common types include acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, Tourette syndrome, and dwarfism.
Acquired brain injury
The acquired brain injury occurs due to damage that may happen to the brain after birth and this damage may be permanent or temporary. This damage can be caused due to several factors including stroke, alcohol, drugs, lack of oxygen, a blow to the head, infection or diseases including AIDs and cancer. Individuals with this disability commonly have difficulty when processing information, planning, and solving problems. These individuals also may experience changes to their behaviour and personality, physical and sensory abilities or thinking and learning.
Spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injury is mainly caused by a motor vehicle accident or falls; however, other causes may include cancer, arthritis, infections, blood clots and degenerative spinal conditions. A spinal cord injury occurs when too much pressure is applied to the spinal cord — this pressure leads to a loss of function such as mobility or feeling which may result in paraplegia (loss of function below chest) or quadriplegia (loss of function below the neck).
Cystic Fibrosis
Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic condition that affects the body’s respiratory, digestive and reproductive systems. Cystic Fibrosis affects the mucus and sweat glands in the body, this results in the mucus becoming thick. Thick mucus, in the case of the lung, can clog airways and trap bacteria; thus, causing lung damage. Individuals with Cystic Fibrosis may have symptoms that include: sinus infections, poor growth, diarrhoea, liver damage, and infertility. Individuals may also have low salt levels in the body which can cause fatigue, cramps and dehydration.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a neurological condition where a person has a tendency to have recurring seizures due to a sudden burst of electrical activity in the brain. It can cause unusual movement, odd feelings or sensations, a change in a person’s behaviour, and it may cause them to lose consciousness. Causes for epilepsy include brain injuries, strokes, cancer, brain infection and other genetic factors. Some individuals can control their seizures with medication. Furthermore, the condition may be temporary or lifelong for different individuals.
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder that involves involuntary and repetitive vocalizations, sounds and movements that are referred to as “tics”. This disability is diagnosed between the ages of 2–21. “Tics” are neurological and not behavioural, meaning, they cannot be controlled. There are 2 different kinds of “tics”. Vocal tics may include tongue clicking, grunting, sniffing, and/or blurting out socially unacceptable words or phrases. And motor tics may include eye blinking, shrugging, head jerking, facial expressions, touching objects or people, jumping up or down, and/or imitating some else’s actions.
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is referred to as short stature (abnormal skeletal growth) which can be caused by over 300 genetic or medical conditions. It is defined as an adult height of 4’10 or less. There are 2 categories of dwarfism: Disproportionate dwarfism is where some parts of the body are smaller, whilst other parts are average or above-average. And, Proportionate dwarfism is where the body is averagely proportioned, and all parts of the body are small to the same degree. To continue, children with dwarfism may experience a delay in developing motor skills; however, it does not have a link to any intellectual disabilities.
Learning disabilities:
There are many different types of learning disabilities but the most common types include Dyslexia, ADHD, Nonverbal Skills, Dyscalculia, and Dysgraphia.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a disability that involves deficits in fluent word recognition. Those who have Dyslexia struggle with spelling, decoding and recognition. These individuals may also have impaired orthographic processing, which interferes with connecting letters and letter combinations with sounds accurately and fluently. To add on, those with Dyslexia often have deficits in phonemic and phonological awareness, which refer to the ability to hear. They may also identify and manipulate the sound structure of a spoken word, including its phonemes, syllables, onsets and rhyme.
ADHD
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a condition that mostly becomes apparent in some children in the preschool and early school years. ADHD makes it hard for these children to control their behaviour and/or pay attention. To further explain, ADHD includes having difficulty when staying focused and paying attention and having difficulty controlling behaviour and hyperactivity. Although ADHD is not considered a learning disability, research indicates that from 30–50 per cent of children with ADHD also have a specific learning disability and that the two conditions can interact to make learning extremely challenging.
Nonverbal skills
The nonverbal skills learning disability is defined as having difficulty in visual-spatial skills, visual-motor skills, and other skills necessary in social or academic functioning. Individuals with a nonverbal skill disability may have trouble with the following skills: interpreting facial expressions and nonverbal cues in social interactions, using language appropriately in social situations, physical coordination, fine motor skills (such as writing), paying attention, planning, and organizing.
Dyscalculia
While difficulty with reading can affect a student’s ability in math, some students also suffer from dyscalculia, which is a disorder that specifically affects one’s math capabilities. Dyscalculia can range from an inability to order numbers correctly and extend to limited strategies for problem-solving. Students with math disorders may have trouble performing basic math calculations, or they may have difficulty with concepts like time, measurement or estimation.
Dysgraphia
While reading disabilities receive the most attention, writing disabilities can be equally difficult to overcome. These disabilities are known as dysgraphia. Dysgraphia can be related to the physical act of writing. These students often cannot hold a pencil correctly, and their posture may be tense while trying to write. This leads these individuals to be prone to getting tired easily — causing discouragement that further inhibits progress. Dysgraphia can also refer to difficulty with written expression. Their writing may be redundant or have obvious omissions that affect the quality and readability of the text. With Dysgraphia, students have trouble organizing their thoughts coherently. Dysgraphia may also cause students to struggle with basic sentence structure and grammatical awareness.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many different kinds of disabilities that affect an individual mentally and/or physically; but, the ones listed in this article were the most common ones. To add on, there are many individuals battling a disability, but that does not mean they are any different! Always remember to follow the golden rule: “treat others as you wish to be treated”! Raise awareness in any way you can, because we are all human, and we all deserve equal rights and respect.
Sources:
https://www.masters-in-special-education.com/lists/5-most-common-learning-disabilities/
