DISABILITIES AWARENESS

MENTAL DISABILITIES Multiple categories of mental illnesses Anxiety Mood Psychotic Eating Impulse and Control Personality Dissociative

COMMON MENTAL DISABILITIES ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) Autism Bipolar Disorder Claustrophobia Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Schizophrenia Alzheimer's Disease

AUTISM (TARGET DISABILITY) A group of developmental brain disorders. Both genetic and environmental factors play roles in causing autism. (Suspected not proven) Symptoms include Social Impairment Make little eye contact Respond unusually when others show anger, distress, or affection. Communication Difficulties Fail or be slow to respond Fail or be slow to develop gestures Repetitive and Stereotyped behaviors

FACTS ABOUT AUTISM Autism now affects 1 in 88 children (1 in 54 boys) Autism is the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the United States. Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average. Autism receives less than 5% of the research funding There is no medical detection or cure for autism.

MYTHS ABOUT AUTISM People with autism don’t want friends People with autism struggle with social skills which make it difficult to interact with others. People with autism can’t understand the emotions of others. Autism patients might not recognize body language as well, but direct communicated language that shows emotion is understood. Autism is caused by bad parenting Rumor that autism is caused by the lack of emotional warmth from the mother. People with autism can’t feel or express any emotion. Autism doesn’t take away one’s ability to feel emotions.

PHYSICAL DISABILITIES A physical disability is one that affects a persons’ mobility and/or dexterity. A person with a physical disability may need extra assistance from the use of equipment to relocate themselves from point A to point B. Physical disabilities can also include people who have lost limbs, shape of the body, or anything that requires slight adaptation in order for the patient to contribute fully. Some physical disabilities can come from the result of injury, while others are developed in the womb or after birth.

COMMON PHYSICAL DISABILITIES Blindness Cerebral Palsy Muscular Dystrophy Parkinson’s Disease Paraplegia Quadriplegia Multiple Sclerosis

PARAPLEGIA (TARGET DISABILITY) Paraplegia is usually due to a spinal cord injury and results in an impairment to the motor or sensory function of the lower half of a person’s body. Occurs due to damage to the cellular structure of the spinal cord within the spinal canal. Injury to the spinal cord at the thoracic level and below result in paraplegia, with the arms and hands not affected. People with injuries to the spinal cord segments T-1 to T-8 usually retain control of the arms and hands but have poor trunk control and balance due to the lack of abdominal muscle control Lower thoracic injuries (T-9 to T-12) retain good truck control and good abdominal muscle control

FACTS ABOUT PARAPLEGIA Over 250,000 Americans are spinal cord injured, and counting. Approximately 11,000 new injuries occurs each year. Length of initial hospitalization following injury in acute care units: 15 days Average stay in rehabilitation unit: 44 days Initial hospitalization costs following injury: $140,000 Average first year expenses for a SCI injury (all groups): $198,000 First year expenses for paraplegics: $152,000 In , 40 % of SCIs resulted in quadriplegia, and 60% in paraplegia

IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE People with disabilities want to participate in activities and events just like the rest of us. Mentally disabled people still have the ability to process emotion and want to participate with others. Physically disabled people don’t enjoy separating themselves from those who are “normal,” because they have the ability to participate as well, just sometimes need extra assistance. In almost all scenarios, the possibility to modify the game to include the extra person, is easily achievable.

REFERENCES Autism Spectrum Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from National Institute of Mental Health website: pervasive-developmental-disorders/index.shtml Facts About Autism. (2013). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from Autism Speaks website: autism Paraplegia and Paraplegic. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from Apparelyzed website: paraplegic.html Spinal Cord Injury Facts & Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from Sci-Info-Pages website: