Information On Disabilities
People with disabilities are not just people who use wheelchairs or guide dogs. In fact less than 5% of the total population who are disabled in the UK (9.5 million) are wheelchair users, which means there are many types of disability which you may not be aware of or simply don’t understand. Remember, you often can’t tell just by looking or talking to someone if they have a disability or not.
A person with a disability is legally defined as someone with a “physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out normal day to day activities.” (Source: DWP Q & A)
So what is a disability, what types of disability are there and what do they all mean?
- Physical Disability: an impairment which hampers physical, vocational or community activities e.g. wheelchair user, amputee and cerebral palsy.
Physical disabilities are what are traditionally thought of as “a disability” because they are usually visibly obvious to the casual observer. - Learning Disability: a condition which either prevents or significantly hinders somebody from learning basic skills or information at the same rate as most people of the same age e.g. Down’s Syndrome and William’s Syndrome.
- Sensory: visual impairment, hearing loss and speech problems.
- Progressive Conditions: HIV, cancer, multiple sclerosis, parkinson’s disease and arthritis.
- Autism / Asperger (or Asperger’s) Syndrome: a developmental disorder affecting a person’s ability to communicate, engage in social interactions and respond appropriately to the environment.
- Mental Health: bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression), depression, schizophrenia, stress related issues, anxiety, panic attacks and paranoia.
- Hidden Disabilities: head injury, dyslexia, heart disease, depression, diabetes, asthma, chrones disease and epilepsy.
