DISABILITY MODULE

(For parents)

The following module will touch upon the different classification of disabilities and the types
of disabilities that come under them. This module serves to explain each disability in a simple
and easy way.

Disabilities are certain limitations or difficulties that a person might have with doing certain
tasks due to having a difference in the structure of their body and function.

Objective of the module:

1. To educate Parents of children with disabilities about disability in a simple and easy
format so as not to make things complicated
2. Answering questions that parents might have about disability and providing
reassuring responses to their questions.

CHAPTER 1: CHRONIC NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS

Chronic neurological conditions are something that is common in older adults. Stroke,
Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia
are common in the older adult persons.

Parkinson’s:

This is brain disorder that leads to shakiness, stiffness and difficulty with walking, balancing
and coordination of limbs. The symptoms begin slowly at first and then start increasing at a
rapid rate. As the disease progresses the person may have difficulty in walking and balancing
and talking

Stroke:

When the brain doesn’t get enough oxygen and this could be due to blockage of the blood
flow to the brain. This could lead to symptoms like sudden loss of speech, weakness or
paralysis of one side of the body can be some of the symptoms.
Epilepsy:

It is a brain disease in which the brain activity become abnormal and this causes seizures,
sometimes unusual behaviour, loss of sensation and sometimes the person could lose their
awareness. Anyone can develop Epilepsy at any age.

Alzheimer’s Disease:

It is a disease that cannot be reverse only slowed but it is a progressive brain disorder. It
destroys the person’s memory and thinking skills as well as the ability to carry out simple
tasks. Problems can include wandering and getting lost, trouble handling money and paying
bills, repeating questions, taking longer to complete normal daily tasks, and personality and
behaviour change.

Vascular Dementia:

This is a condition that is cause when there is reduced blood flow to areas in the brain. This
leads to a decline in the persons thinking skills

Multiple Sclerosis:

This is a condition where the persons immune system attacks their own body and as a result
of which it causes communication problems between the brain and the rest of the person’s
body. It can cause problems with vision, balance, muscle control, and other basic body
functions. The effects are often different for everyone who has the disease.
 CHAPTER 2: COGNITIVE DISABILITIES

Cognitive disabilities are also known as Intellectual disabilities. This is when a person has
limitations in certain skills like communication, self help and social skills. This might cause
the child the learn these skills more slowly than others of their age. These disabilities can be
as a result of injury, disease, genetic condition or brain issue. This can take place before the
child is born or during the childhood.

Different types of Cognitive Disabilities:

Dyslexia:

This is a learning disorder. The person diagnosed with dyslexia might face difficulty in
reading and sounds of words and letters. It affects an area of the brain that processes
language. The child might face certain difficulties in school with reading and writing and
putting words and sounds together but with the proper help the child will be able to learn to
develop learning techniques and strategies.

Dyscalculia:

Dyscalculia has an effect on a person's ability to comprehend numbers and memorise math
facts. Individuals with this form of learning disorder have trouble understanding numbers and
math facts, as well as poor math calculation skills.

Dysgraphia:

Dysgraphia is a learning disability which involves difficulty with storing and automatically
retrieving letters and numerals. Individuals with dysgraphia often have difficulties in
Executive Functions (e.g., planning and organizing).

Dyspraxia:

Dyspraxia is a condition that affects motor ability growth. Dyspraxia affects people's ability
to plan and perform fine motor functions, which can range from waving goodbye to getting
ready.

Fragile X Syndrome:

This is a genetic condition caused due to a mutation in the X chromosome. Children/ Person’s
having Fragile X syndrome have physical and emotional difficulties but it can be different for
different people. Some common signs are intellectual disability, communication difficulties,
ADHD or Anxiety, similar to autism and difficulty with social interactions.

Down Syndrome:

Down syndrome is not a disease or an illness. It is a genetic disorder that occurs when
someone is born with a full or partial copy of chromosome 21 in their DNA. People with
Down syndrome have a common physical features and developmental characteristics. They
also have some level of intellectual disabilities and learning disabilities but it differs from
person to person.

Autism Spectrum Disorder:

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental condition in which the person faces challenges
with social interaction, speech and non verbal communication, the child might also have
restrictive and repetitive behaviours. The effects of ASD and Severity differs from person to
person. people with ASD have:

· Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people

· Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors

· Symptoms that hurt the person’s ability to function properly in school, work, and other
areas of life.

Although ASD can be a lifelong disorder, treatments and services can improve a person’s
symptoms and ability to function.

Attention- Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):

ADHD is one of the most common disability diagnosed during childhood. Children with
ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors (may act without
thinking about what the result will be), or be overly active.

These are some of the behaviours of children with ADHD (However they are different for
different persons):

 being unable to sit still, especially in calm or quiet surroundings.

 constantly fidgeting.

 being unable to concentrate on tasks.

 excessive physical movement.

 excessive talking.

 being unable to wait their turn.

 acting without thinking.

 interrupting conversations.
 CHAPTER 3: SPEECH & LANGUAGE DISABILITY

Speech and Language disability is mainly a communication disorder and this affects the
child’s ability to communicate- talk, understand, read and write. This can be divided into
speech and Language Disability.

Speech impairment:

There are three type of speech impairment which includes - articulation disorders, fluency
disorders, and voice disorders.

Articulation disorder: This is something that occurs as a result of anatomical or physiological

limitations (Structure of body in terms of area of mouth- which is used for saying words or
sentences)

They include

- Omissions: Where the child leaves the word incomplete (bo for boat)
- Substitutions: Where the child replace the prnounciations for certain words (tick
instead for stick)
- Distortions: The words might get distorted (Shlip for sip)

Fluency Disorders:

- Stuttering: Reptition of certain words, syllables.

- Cluttering: Here the child my talk really fast or in a jerky speech.

Voice Disorders:

Voice disorders are problems by with the quality of someone’s voice because of problems or
disorders in the throat. This could be seen in the pitch of someone’s voice (Loud, soft), tone
of voice etc.
 CHAPTER 4: BLOOD DISORDERS

Thalassemia:

This is a blood disorder that is inherited genetically where in the blood there is less
production of haemoglobin. This is responsible for carrying oxygen around in the person’s
body. Thalassemia results in the red blood cells being destroyed and this causes anaemia this
leads to low oxygen being circulated in the body’s organs. In this disability the person may
experience fatigue or tiredness, being short of breath, or fast heartbeat.

Haemophilia:

This is another blood disorder that is inherited genetically, usually affecting males but it gets
transmitted from the Female mother to the male child. In this disability the child’s/ person’s
blood loses its ability to clot. Clot means to stop the flow of blood when there is any sort of
injury to the child. So even a minor injury may have a fatal outcome.

Sickle Cell Disease:

Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder that is genetic and here, the blood cells become shaped
like Sickles. The red blood cells in our body’s carry oxygen to all the organs in our body
however this blood disorder reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood cells.

Sickle Cells causes severe anaemia where the individual may face a lot of pain (that varies in
it intensity or level pain as well as how long the pain lasts.), they may have swelling of their
limbs and face frequent infections when they get injured or vision issues.

The pain can be very intense and as a result can be difficult to lead a typical working life so
for that sense it is considered as a disability.
 CHAPTER 5: PHYSICAL DISABILITY

A physical disability is a physical condition that affects a persons mobility (moving around),
they’re physical capacity (how does moving around affect their strength), their level of
stamina (how long can they move around for, does it make them drained or tired), or
dexterity.

Locomotor Disability: This is a condition where a person faces limitations with regards to
movement from one place to another. It could be a disability related to bones, joints, injury
related and it can cause difficulty in the person’s movements like walking, picking up objects
etc. It is a restriction in the movement of one’s limbs.

Below are some of the locomotor disabilities that come under physical disabilities.

1. Cerebral Palsy:

It is a group of disorders that affects the person’s ability to move and maintain their balance
and posture. Cerebral means having to do with the brain and Palsy means weakness or
problems with using the muscles. It is caused caused by damage to one or more specific areas
of the brain, usually occurring before, during or shortly after birth

Cerebral Palsy occurs when any damages or injuries happens to the brain but doctors can’t
always figure out what exactly happened or disrupt the development of brain, causing CP.

2. Leprosy cured persons:

This is another type of locomotor disability that comes under physical disabilities. It is an
infectious disease that is cause by a type of bacteria. This bacteria mainly affects the person’s
skin, their outer nerves (sensations- like fingers, toes etc).

Leprosy may affect the person’s body by showing up with light patches on the persons skin
and sometimes it gets misdiagnosed by doctors. If the correct treatment is not given on time
is may spread to the persons feet, eyes, sensory of the nerve and then result in weakening of
the person’s limbs, paralysis (person might become paralysed-not able to walk independently,
lose movement in certain limbs), clawed hand.
 3. Dwarfism:

Dwarfism is when a person is short in stature because of their genes or a medical reason. In
general, Dwarfism is divided into two broad categories:

· Disproportionate dwarfism. If body size is disproportionate, some parts of the body

are small, and others are of average size or above-average size. Disorders causing
disproportionate dwarfism inhibit the development of bones (bones develop according to
proper dimensions)

· Proportionate dwarfism. A body is proportionately small if all parts of the body are
small to the same degree and appear to be proportioned like a body of average stature.
Medical conditions present at birth or appearing in early childhood limit overall growth and
development.

4. Muscular Dystrophy:

Muscle weakness is the main symptom of muscular dystrophy. In it the muscles get weaker
day by day, and it will affect the daily function of an individual. It causes loss of muscle mass
and the body of the person becomes weaker.

They face trouble in walking, breathing difficulty, swallowing problems, lung and heart
weakness, walking on your toes, frequent falls, trouble getting up from the floor, poor motor
control, vision and speech problem, intellectual problems etc.

5. Acid Attack Victims:

It means a person is disfigured due to the violent attack on them with acid or another type of
corrosive substances. This can damage the person sense –(Sight, smells, skin, sensation etc).
As a result of this they may have acquired visual impairment, locomotor issues or suffered
chemical burns and thus they are included as person’s with disability.
 CHAPTER 6: VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

It is a term that refers to an individual that is encountering difficulty or significant challenges

with regards to sight. This could interfere with their daily functioning in different avenues
like at school, at work or while travelling. This is also a sensory disability since it involves a
disability of the sense (eyes, taste, smell etc) These are some types of Visual Impairment:

1. Blindness

In this the individual has the following conditions:

- Total absence of sight- the person is unable to see entirely

- The rate of vision can be calculated and, in some case, corrective lenses can be used
to maintain a certain amount of vision.
- In this third case the visual impairment is depending on the angle of sight.

2. Low vision:

A person with visual impairment who has received treatment or standard refractive correction
and who uses or able to use their using vision for the planning or execution of a task with
appropriate assistive devices. In this case the person has received treatment of uses corrective
eye lens to carry out tasks is a person with low vision.

Hearing Impairment:

Hearing impairment is when a person experiences hearing loss of different degree to slight or
up to severe. This can occur from birth or it could be acquired later in life. This is also a
sensory disability since it involves a disability of the sense (eyes, taste, smell etc)

A person has to get tested to understand the level of hearing loss, so if a person is having 70
decibel hearing loss they are considered as “Deaf”, while a person is considered “Hard of
Hearing” when they have 60 to 70 decibel hearing loss.
 CHAPTER 7: MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

Multiple disabilities are an occurrence of two or more conditions of disability that can affect
the person’s functioning in daily life and could affect other important functions. These
disabilities could be combination of motor or sensory nature.

Multiple Disabilities could be two different types of physical disabilities, two different
mental disabilities, or a combination of physical and mental disabilities. Common examples
of Multiple Disabilities are:

 Intellectual disability and blindness

 Mental retardation and orthopaedic impairment

 Locomotor disability and speech impairment.

Deaf blindness:

This is a disability where in the person/child has both visual impairment as well as a hearing
impairment. This combination of disabilities can severe communication limitations and may
face limitation in school or areas of work and also limitation in functioning with daily tasks.

The amount of loss in vision and hearing will vary from person to person. This is also a
sensory disability since it involves a disability of the sense (eyes, taste, smell etc)

Conclusion:

Thus, the module explains the segregation and classification of the disabilities in a simple
language and short paragraphs that are easy-to- understand. This module is important and
provides a simple and brief explanation on the different types of disability so that they can
learn about the disability.
 CHAPTER 8: QUESTIONS THAT PARENTS MIGHT HAVE

Q: Will my child be normal?

A: This is a common question that many parents can ask about their children with disability.
Here the social worker should make an effort to explain to the parent that having a disability
doesn’t make their child “not normal”. But YES, they might need some extra help and care to
learn certain daily things to do and, in the beginning, it might seem difficult but over time
you will slowly but surely you will start to notice the progress. (Make sure to reinforce the
idea that just because someone has a disability doesn’t mean they are “not normal”.)

Q: If my child has a permanent disability what is the use of therapy?

A: The social worker should explain therapy is a very important aspect of the people with
disabilities life. Going for the different kinds of therapy that the doctor recommends can help
your child gain certain function and this can be a great help if started at an early age. Explain
to the parents that the different types of therapies teach the child different types of skills and
for your child to live independently going for these therapies and learning how to do these
skills in daily life can help you child in their adult life.

Q: Will my child be able to read and write and go to school if they have a learning disability?

A: Explain to the parent that a child with learning disability experiences certain difficulties in
reading and writing and this can be difficult in school and learning environment. Also explain
to them that this doesn’t mean that their child will not be able to read and write. Your child
will need an extra help with learning – in terms of letters, their sounds, and maths etc. They
might require different types of therapies that can help them understand those lessons and
with the right kind of assistance, exercises, and therapies they will be able to read and write
with practice. Explain to the parent that offering emotional support to their child is also
important in the form of being an encouraging voice to them as it makes the child feel
motivated and explain to the parents to focus on the strengths of their child.
Q. In the future will my son/daughter be able to get married?

A. Having a disability does not always mean that they will not be able to get married in the
future. Just as in any other relationship people with disability need partners that are
understanding and respectful of their needs. But making them prepared to live life
independently by teaching them the different skills necessary is an important part for being
ready for the future of marriage if They do wish to get married.

Q: How to face the stigma that my child with disability and our family might face from the
society?

A: Providing a supportive environment at home within your family for your child with
disability is extremely important for both their mental and physical well-being. However the
society that stigma can place on a person with disability and their family can be offensive and
hurtful, learning to recognize that this stigma and discrimination that they face is sometimes
because the person might not have knowledge about disability or because of the myths that
are out there they stereotype persons with disability and say and use negative words to them,
here the family and their child can encourage interaction with people in the community to
break those preconceived idea that people might have about disability