The 5 types of functional diversity (and their associated disorders)

A review of the main forms of functional diversity and their different ways of expression.

People with functional diversity are those who suffer from some kind of problem that makes daily life difficult.

There are several types of disability and their degree of affectation is very varied. In this article we will discuss the types of functional diversity, the degrees to which it occurs and some related disorders..

What is functional diversity?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the term disability encompasses impairments, limitations and restrictions that a person may suffer.

However, in recent years the term functional diversity has been gaining more and more use, being considered synonymous with disability, although it is perceived as more politically correct.

Thus, in relation to the definition given by the WHO, it is understood that functional diversity involves problems affecting body structure, limitations in carrying out everyday actions and difficulties in maintaining social relationships with peers. with peers.

Before discussing the different types of functional diversity in greater depth, it is worth discussing three concepts that are included within this concept:

Impairment

Loss of a structure or functioneither mental or physical.

Disability

Restriction or total absence of a certain activity.

Handicap

Disadvantageous situation consequence of an impairment or disability that affects daily life.

Types of functional diversity

Disabilities are generally thought of as an extremely serious and permanent condition. However, the degree to which a person suffers from this type of condition can vary widely, the degree to which a person suffers from this type of condition can be very varied and can even be and can even be overcome.

Not only blindness or intellectual problems such as Down Syndrome are examples of functional diversity. Breaking an arm, having myopia or coordination problems, among other more common situations, fall within the concept of functional diversity.

The different types of functional diversity are detailed below, explaining some examples.

1. Physical or motor

Physical disability implies a difficulty in performing movementsThis affects the ability to move, balance, manipulate objects or even to speak and breathe.

The causes behind this type of functional diversity can be varied, and there may be bone, muscle or limb formation problems, or it may be the case of having suffered an accident that damaged physical integrity.

Also, one of the causes behind this type of disability is the fact of having problems in the motor cortexbrain structure that is in charge of movements.

To support people suffering from this type of disability it is important to detect the barriers that may exist in their daily life, such as stairs, elevators not adapted for wheelchairs or places of difficult access.

Some conditions in which motor diversity occurs:

• Multiple sclerosis
• Spinal cord injury
• Parkinson's disease
• Spina bifida
• Cerebral palsy
• Muscular dystonia
• Achondroplasia

2. Visual

May include both blindness and milder vision problems.. Blindness implies that the person sees nothing at all or, at most, can perceive silhouettes of light. The need to wear glasses to see is in a way, although it may come as a surprise, a type of impairment that would fall under the concept of visual functional diversity.

The most common causes of this type of disability are cataracts, easily correctable eye problems such as myopia or strabismus, and eye inflammation. These types of problems tend to appear more frequently after the age of 50. Diabetes can also cause some types of blindness.

Measures to help people with visual difficulties are varied.. In milder cases there are corrective measures, such as glasses, special lights or texts with larger letters. Eye surgery can also be used.

The Braille system has been of great help to people with total or partial blindness, since it enables them to read without having to see. Thus, they can carry out common tasks such as reading a book, making a shopping list or accessing newspapers.

3. Hearing

The term hearing impairment is a very generic term, and is used to encompassing all people who have suffered some type of hearing loss.. This loss can be profound, as is the general concept of deafness or cophosis, or mild, such as hypoacusis.

It may be the case that the person has a hearing problem in only one ear (unilateral) or in both (bilateral).

The diagnosis of hearing impairment is made by means of an audiometry.The diagnosis of hearing impairment is made by means of audiometry, which is a technique that allows to know the hearing acuity of a person.

The causes behind this type of disability can be very varied, such as maternal rubella, suffering from hereditary deafness.

If this type of problem is acquired before learning language, it can be a very detrimental factor for the person to acquire this ability. can be a very detrimental factor for the person to acquire this ability orally.

People with hearing diversity can perform daily tasks satisfactorily if they are provided with measures to make their lives easier. Some examples of measures to facilitate their lives are hearing aids, sign language and visual aids.

4. Intellectual and psychological

Here we make a distinction between what is understood as intellectual disability and what is considered psychic.

Intellectual functional diversity implies that the person presents cognitive difficulties. This term has replaced the term mental retardation. It involves adaptation problems and learning difficulties. It may coexist with other types of disabilities, since many disorders in which there are intellectual problems also involve other types of difficulties.

Intellectual disability may involve slower development.. Children may take significantly longer compared to children of the same age to speak, walk, learn literacy skills,

The factors behind intellectual problems can be varied, ranging from chromosomal problems, malnutrition, head trauma.

Some examples of conditions in which there is functional diversity of intellectual type are:

• Down syndrome
• Fetal alcohol syndrome
• Fragile X syndrome
• Klinefelter's syndrome

Psychic diversity refers to difficulties in areas such as communication or social interactions.. It differs from intellectual diversity basically because intelligence is not affected. It affects adaptive behavior. Some examples of problems involving this type of diversity are psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder....

5. Multisensory

There are people who suffer from both auditory and visual problems. This group is called deafblind people, although it should be noted that they do not necessarily have a complete lack of both senses.

This type of problem can occur from birth, i.e., deafblindness.It may be congenital deafblindness, i.e., congenital deafblindness, or it may be acquired during the first years of development, i.e., acquired deafblindness.

In the most severe cases, people with this type of disability have serious problems interacting with the outside world, since not seeing or hearing means that the two main ways of acquiring information from the outside world are closed.

The best known syndrome within this type of functional diversity is Usher syndrome. It is characterized by the fact that the child is born with hearing problems and, upon reaching adolescence, loses his or her sight.

Bibliographical references:

• Marchesi, A., Coll, C. and Palacios, J. (2004). Psychological development and education: 3. Developmental disorders and special educational needs. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
• Smith, R. J. H., Berlin C. I., Hejtmancik, J. F., Keats, B. J. B., Kimberling, W. J. R., Lewis A., Möller C. G., Pelias M. Z., Tranebjærǵ, L. (1994). Clinical diagnosis of the Usher syndromes. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 50(1), 32-38.