 Limit activity  restrict participation activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations

 physical  cognitive  mental  sensory  emotional  Developmental or some combination of these impairment. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person's lifetime. A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as learning, working, walking, seeing, and hearing.

Individual qualify as disabled if they have had an impairment in the past or is seen as disabled based on a personal or group standard or norm

Mental disorders (also known as psychiatric or psychosocial disability) and various types of chronic disease may also qualify as disabilities

DisabilityPhysicalSensory Vision & hearing Olfactory and gustatory Somatosensory

 Vision  Movement  Thinking  Remembering  Learning  Communicating  Hearing  Mental health  Social relationships

 affects a person's mobility  Need to use some sort of equipment for assistance with mobility  It also includes people who have lost limbs Paraplegia Quadriplegia Multiple sclerosis (MS) Hemiplegia Cerebral palsy Absent limb/reduced limb function Polio

 impairment of one of the senses  refer to vision and hearing impairment

 vision loss (of a person)  additional support need  limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive correction, medication.

 hard of hearing  deafness refers to conditions in which individuals are fully or partially unable to detect or perceive at least some frequencies of sound which can typically be heard by most people.  Mild hearing loss may sometimes not be considered a disability.

 sense of smell and taste  associated with aging but can also occur in younger people  Complete loss of the sense of taste is known as ageusia  dysgeusia is persistent abnormal sense of taste

 Anosmia – inability to smell  Dysosmia – things do not smell as they "should"  Hyperosmia – an abnormally acute sense of smell  Hyposmia – decreased ability to smell  Olfactory Reference Syndrome – psychological disorder which causes patients to imagine they have strong body odor  Parosmia – things smell worse than they should  Phantosmia – "hallucinated smell", often unpleasant in nature

 Insensitivity to stimuli  such as touch, heat, cold, and pain  commonly associated with paralysis

 mental retardation  cognitive deficits too mild  specific learning disability  may appear at any age

 A psychiatric disability (or mental illness) can develop at any age  Mental illnesses can include stress-related conditions  major depression  Anxiety

 disorder of neural development  characterized by impaired social interaction  verbal and non-verbal communication  restricted and repetitive behavior

 disability that results in problems with growth and development

 Diabetes  Asthma  inflammatory bowel disease  Narcolepsy  Fibromyalgia, or some sleep disorders may be counted as nonvisible disabilities  as opposed to disabilities which are clearly visible, such as those requiring the use of a wheelchair.

 Common causes of developmental disabilities can include:  Accidents  Birth injuries  Congenital / genetic defects  Child abuse  Drug abuse  Head trauma  Violence  Arthritis  Back pain  Heart disease  Cancer  Depression  Diabetes

 Arthritis is probably the biggest single cause  About 1 in 3 people say arthritis affects their ability to do their jobs in some way  Other muscle and joint problems -- bad backs, bones that never mend, bad hips -- are common causes of disability too.

 People may live with heart disease for years or decades. It can severely limit their ability to work. Studies estimate that heart disease is now the reason for 17% of all health costs in the U.S.

 cancer itself can be disabling, treatments such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy can also make it difficult to work.  "Cancer is the fastest-growing cause for disability claims,"

 diabetes is rising fast. Along with obesity, it's linked to a number of serious health problems, like heart disease  Diabetes is a costly disease to manage, too, in part because of the drugs and supplies.

 These include a number of conditions that affect the brain or nerves, such as:  Multiple sclerosis (MS)  Parkinson's disease  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease)  Alzheimer's disease  MS is a leading cause of disability in young adults. It most often appears between ages 20 and 40.

 The Family and Medical Leave Act offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. However, it isn't available to many women who:  Are self-employed  Work at small businesses  Haven't worked long enough with an employer to be eligible  Some employers and a few states offer women short- term disability payments for pregnancy. The rest have to get by using sick days and vacation.  Long-term disability caused by pregnancy is relatively rare. Women who wind up needing bed rest while they're pregnant or who suffer from complications afterward -- like postpartum depression -- can face serious financial stress.

 Many people assume accidents are the most likely cause of disability. But they are actually the cause of less than 10% of disability cases.

 There is a global correlation between disability and poverty, produced by a variety of factors. Disability and poverty may form a vicious circle, in which physical barriers make it more difficult to get income, which in turn diminishes access to health care and other necessities for a healthy life. The World report on disability indicates that half of all disabled people cannot afford health care, compared to a third of non-disabled people.

 Individuals with disabilities are greatly affected by disasters  Those with physical disabilities can be at risk when evacuating if assistance is not available  Individuals with cognitive impairments may struggle with understanding instructions that must be followed in the event a disaster occurs  Those who are blind, hearing impaired, etc. may have difficulty communicating during the emergency  All of these factors can increase the degree of variation of risk in disaster situations with disabled individuals  Research studies have consistently found discrimination against individuals with disabilities during all phases of the disaster cycle  The most common limitation is that people cannot physically access buildings or transportation, as well as access disaster-related services