The 6 types of disability and their characteristics

This phenomenon linked to the world of health can present itself in a wide variety of forms.

Each and every one of us is unique, possessing different characteristics and living a different life from everyone else. However, most of us have a common set of abilities and skills that are generally taken for granted in most people. And in some cases and due to different circumstances, some people lose or have not developed these abilities in the same way as the majority of the population.

These people may suffer from various difficulties in different aspects of their lives as a result, and may suffer from different types of disability depending on the type of problems or the skills or organs that present some alteration. And it is about these different types of disability that we are going to talk about in this article.

What is disability?

We understand by disability all that situation in which a subject sees limited its participation in some type of scope or action, due to the existence of some type of deficiency in some organ or intellectual capacity.due to the existence of some type of deficiency in some organ or intellectual capacity. It is in itself the existence of a limitation, not being a cause but a consequence.

The existence of a disability therefore implies a difficulty or obstacle for the participation of the subject in society or in some aspect or vital domain in comparison with the possibilities presented by those persons without the deficiency in question or even the subject himself at an earlier time in his life.

However, disability does not imply that the person with a disability cannot achieve and carry out the same activities as long as he/she has help adjusted to his/her needs.

In the same way, the term "disability" is not synonymous with illness, although in practice the two concepts often overlap.although, in practice, the two concepts often overlap in many cases. In any case, disability itself is not a word that is limited to the clinical and health sphere, and its implications are more related to the social world: urban planning, architecture, politics, etc.

The different types of disability

As we have indicated above, there is not only one type of disability, but we can find different classifications depending on the type of disability. different classifications can be found depending on the type of problem in which the difficulties are difficulties. Thus, we can establish different major types of disability, the first three being the most commonly considered.

1. Physical disability

Physical or motor disability is the name given to any type of limitation generated by the presence of a problem linked to a decrease or a problems linked to a reduction or elimination of motor or physical capacities.such as the physical loss of a limb or its usual functionality.

This type of disability arises in the context of spinal cord problems, traffic accidents, cranioencephalic trauma, medical illness generating physical limitation, amputations, congenital malformations or cerebrovascular accidents.

2. Sensory disability

Sensory disability refers to the existence of limitations derived from the existence of deficiencies in one or more of the senses that allow us to in any of the senses that allow us to perceive the external or internal environment.. There are alterations in all senses, although the best known are visual and hearing impairment.

3. Intellectual disability

Intellectual disability is defined as any limitation of intellectual functioning that hinders social participation or the development of autonomy or areas such as academics or work, possessing an IQ below 70 and influencing different cognitive abilities and social participation. There are different degrees of intellectual disabilitywhich have different implications in terms of the type of difficulties they may present.

4. Psychic disability

We speak of psychic disability when we are facing a situation in which there are presented behavioral and adaptive behavioral disordersgenerally derived from the suffering of some type of mental disorder.

5. Visceral disability

This little known type of disability appears in those people who suffer from some type of deficiency in one of their organs, which generates limitations in the life and participation in the community of the subject. This is the case of those that can generate Diabetes or heart problems..

6. Multiple disability

This type of disability is derived from a combination of limitations derived from some of the previous impairments. For example, a blind person with an intellectual disability, or a paraplegic person with deafness.

What does it imply socially that there are people with disabilities?

As we have seen above, the different types of disability are not simply an individual problem, but rather a social problem. are not simply an individual problem, but rather raise a series of debates with social implications.

This is because the very concept of a disabled person does not necessarily imply that these individuals are condemned to suffer for not being able to adapt to an environment not designed for them.

Therefore, there are many social movements that fight for the inclusion of disabled people, there are many social movements that fight for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the notion of citizens with agency to function in a society that takes them into account.

This means, for example, worrying about making streets and buildings accessible, making institutions usable by them, avoiding linguistic formulations that facilitate discrimination, etc. In short, a whole series of demands as plural as society is plural and diverse.

Bibliographical references:

• Albrecht, G.L., ed. (2005). Encyclopedia of disability. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
• Blick R.N.; Litz K.S.; Thornhill M.G.; Goreczny A.J. (2016). Do inclusive work environments matter? Effects of community-integrated employment on quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities. 53-54: pp. 358 - 366.
• Garden R (2010). Disability and narrative: new directions for medicine and the medical humanities. Medical Humanities, 36(2): pp. 70 - 74.
• Kaushik, R. (1999). Access Denied: Can we overcome disabling attitudes. Museum International. 51(3): pp. 48 - 52.
• Kayess, R.; French, P. (2008). Out of darkness into light? Introducing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Human Rights Law Review, 8: pp. 1 - 34.
• Tortosa, L.; Gracía-Molina, C.; Page, A.; Ferreras, A. (2008). Ergonomía y discapacidad. Valencia: Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia.