THE 10 TYPES OF DISABILITY AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

A disability is defined as a condition, state or function that causes those who suffer from it a difficulty to function in the society in which they live when compared to an individual or normative group. The term can be used to refer to very different problems, including physical, sensory, cognitive and intellectual impairments.

In this article we will see what types of disability exist and their most relevant consequences for the lives of the people who suffer them. At a conceptual level, disability is considered an experience that affects all areas of the people who suffer it. This is because, even if there is only one physical or mental element affected, the problems that are created cause difficulties in a large number of different areas.

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Thus, in the field of therapy, disabilities are considered to affect mainly three elements: body structure and function, daily activities, and participation in different social and temporal contexts. On the other hand, the idea that the physical and social environment plays a very important role in the effects of disabilities in people's lives is also defended.

In addition to this, it is also known that the same type of disability can affect different people in different ways. Therefore, it is necessary to study each specific case in addition to dividing the types of problems that exist into different categories.

Types of disability and their characteristics

Cerebral or neurological

There are many types of disabilities related to problems with brain function. Some of them have to do with birth conditions, while others are caused by acquired damage to the brain due to factors that can be very varied: from infections, neurodegenerative diseases or stroke to the consumption of drugs, alcohol or the presence of a head trauma.

Disabilities related to these types of problems are commonly known as organic brain syndromes, as they are caused by physical illnesses rather than those of psychiatric origin. However, some experts include schizophrenia within this category, as it has a strong biological component.

Brain disabilities often affect all areas of life for people who suffer from them. However, the degree to which they prevent the individual from leading a normal life varies greatly depending on the case, the cause and the effects that cause the brain damage.

Auditory

Hearing disabilities are those suffered by people who are partially or completely deaf. Depending on the severity of the deafness, the consequences of this problem will be more or less serious and will affect the life of the individual who suffers it to a greater or lesser extent.

For example, a person who is only partially deaf may use hearing aids to better perceive the sounds in his environment, although in general his way of dealing with the world will not be as efficient as that of a person without this disability. On the contrary, those who are totally deaf will have to use other methods to communicate and function in their daily lives.

Deafness can appear already from the moment of birth, or appear later in the person's life for different reasons. For example, diseases such as meningitis can damage the auditory nerve or the cochlea, thus preventing normal hearing.

Of vision

One of the most common types of disability is the one that has to do with vision loss. As in the previous case, problems related to sight can lead to partial or total blindness, and be present from the moment of birth or, on the contrary, develop later.

Many times, when we think of a visual impairment, only total blindness comes to mind. However, there are other conditions such as corneal damage, cataracts or severe myopia that can also cause very serious problems for people who suffer from them.

Physical and mobility

The common characteristic of all the disabilities that fall into this category is that some aspect of the physical functioning of the affected person is damaged. However, the consequences do not have to be the same all the time, and may have to do with your mobility, dexterity or endurance.

Physical and mobility disabilities make up one of the largest groups in existence, affecting millions of people around the world in many different ways. For example, some of them are temporary, while others last a lifetime. Similarly, they may have appeared from birth, or formed later.

Among the most common problems suffered by people with physical or mobility disabilities are the difficulty or lack of use of one or more limbs (both lower and upper), the lack of manual dexterity, or the inability to coordinate the movements of different body parts.

From the spinal cord

Disabilities of the spinal cord have to do with certain types of damage suffered in this organ. They generally cause very severe consequences that last a lifetime, such as loss of mobility in different parts of the body; or in very extreme cases, conditions such as hemiplegia or tetraplegia.

Normally, spinal cord disabilities occur due to some type of severe accident, such as those that have to do with road traffic. However, in some cases they can also be caused by a birth defect.

On the other hand, these types of disabilities can be divided into two: those that completely affect communication through the spinal cord, and those that only do so partially.

In the second class, people can retain a certain degree of mobility and sensitivity in the affected areas, while in the first both elements are completely lost.

Cognitive or intellectual

The group of cognitive disabilities is one of the largest in existence. Those who are affected by one of them tend to have significant limitations when it comes to coping correctly in their daily life, mainly due to problems in their communication, self-care, social skills, security and self-direction.

There are many types of intellectual disabilities, some of them being very serious and general and others more specific. For example, within this category we can find conditions such as autism and Asperger's syndrome, borderline intelligence, hyperactivity or Down syndrome.

Psychological

Psychological disabilities are among the least known and made visible in society. They have to do with the presence of mental disorders that prevent or hinder the normal performance of people who suffer them in different areas of their daily life, such as social, work or even in tasks related to self-care.

In many countries, psychological disabilities are not considered to the same level as other types. However, its consequences can be really severe and prevent those affected from functioning properly in their day-to-day lives.

Among the most common psychological illnesses we can find major depression, anxiety-related disorders (such as post traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder), bipolar disorder or personality disorders. In this last group we find some such as the borderline, the histrionic or the schizoid.

Invisible

The term "invisible disability" refers to all kinds of difficulties that prevent those who suffer from them from functioning normally in their day-to-day lives, and that cause them problems in all kinds of areas without this being easily perceived from the outside.

It is very easy to detect when someone is in a wheelchair, is blind or has some type of physical disability. However, there are other conditions that cause equally severe difficulties, but which are not at all easy to detect at first glance.

For example, people on the autism spectrum suffer from a disability that makes it difficult for them to maintain constructive social relationships and causes all kinds of problems when it comes to taking care of themselves, finding a job, or maintaining a stable circle of support. However, on a social level this problem is very invisible, and therefore there is hardly any help for those affected by it.

In this way, individuals with an invisible disability not only have to face the difficulties inherent to their condition, but also must fight against misunderstanding, discrimination and prejudice.

Learning

The last type of disability is the one that encompasses all those difficulties that prevent learning correctly. They are generally not as severe as those of other types, although in some cases they can pose a very serious problem to people who suffer from them.

In this group we can find disabilities such as dyslexia, hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit disorder or dyscalculia.

Visceral disability

It is a deficiency in an organ, system or apparatus of the human body that prevents a person from leading a normal life.

References

1. "Brain disorders" in: Disability Secrets. Retrieved on: November 28, 2019 from Disability Secrets: disabilitysecrets.com.
2. "Disabilities: Definition, Types and Models of Disability" in: Disabled World. Retrieved on: November 28, 2019 from Disabled World: disabled-world.com.
3. "Different types of disabilities" in: Australian National University. Retrieved on: November 28, 2019 from Australian National University: services.anu.edu.au.
4. "6 general types of disabilities" in: Changing Paces. Retrieved on: November 28, 2019 from Changing Paces: changingpaces.com.
5. "Types of disabilities" in: Vikaspedia. Retrieved on: November 28, 2019 from Vikaspedia: vikaspedia.in.