defining disability Flashcards
what is important to remember about the definition of disability?
there is no universal definition.
what is a congenital disability?
born with the disability.
what is an acquired disability?
disability after birth.
why is normalcy an exclusive word to use?
it often disregards people with disabilities.
how did the 1950s view ‘normal’?
normal was seen as the absence of deviance or disability.
what does normalcy include?
- the characteristics to be judged
- the environment where said characteristics appear
- the people who are making the judgements
normalcy is often in the eyes of what?
the beholder.
in reality, what is normalcy?
it’s what is typical/most commonly occurring.
what is a PWD?
person with disability.
what is a PWOD?
person without disability.
who created the international statistical classification of disease and related health problems (ICD)?
the WHO (world health organization).
what is eugenics?
the study of hereditary improvements via selective breeding, includes sometimes getting rid of people who do not fit certain standards.
how did eugenics lead to the formation of the normal distribution curve?
people like karl pearson, sir francis galton, and sir roland who helped develop the field of statistics were eugenicists.
how does darwin’s theory of evolution play a role in disabilities?
suggested that eventually no disabilities would exist in a species due to natural selection, however this does not apply to humans.
what is anthropometry?
- developing standardized measures of the ‘average’ body
- these measures were taken from white people, aged 18-25
- this was because at the end of WWII there was an idea that america’s citizens had the responsibility to be healthy and be “normal”
what did eugenics make people think about their bodies?
that it was the most important aspect of themselves.
what do many religions believe about the human body?
that it is imperfect and that only in the afterlife will it be so.
what is martha’s vineyard?
- johnathan lambert who arrived at the vineyard
- due to the vineyard being isolated, eventually his children were deaf, who passed it onto their children
- this created a place where everyone was deaf
- this did not bother anyone as it just became a way of living
- even the people at the vineyard did not view their deafness as a disability
the definition of normalcy is always what?
changing.
it took how many years for the american psychiatric association to agree that mental disorders could have a physical and biological basis?
42 years.
who tends to receive more resources, those with disabilities or those without?
those without.
what is categorizing disabilities often useful?
- decides the eligibility of certain services
- the agencies where people can receive these services
- the settings where individuals live
why is a diagnosis important for many third-party services?
they will not provide reimbursement.
what is the downside to categorizing disabilities?
it tends to overlook the strengths that people have.
what are most diagnoses are based on?
symptoms and clinical features, not other possible causes.
what are also considered disabilities?
health conditions and chronic illnesses.
what are the four categories of disability?
- physical (physical symptoms)
- intellectual (intellectual issues)
- cognitive (cognitive issues)
- psychiatric (having been diagnosed with a psychiatric disability)
is it more common to have one disability or many?
many with one disability is typically labeled as the “primary” and the other disabilities are “secondary.”
intellectual, cognitive, and psychiatric disabilities were not considered disabilities until when?
the late 20th century.
what has self-identifying with physical disabilities led to?
the formation of strong advocacy groups.
when was the national federation of the blind established?
in 1940.
what do most physical disabilities include?
mobility and neurologic impairments
what is one of the most commonly occurring physical disabilities in the U.S.?
arthritis.
what type of disability receives the least amount of prejudice?
physical.
physical disabilities are often what?
objective and quantifiable, which makes them more likely to be tested with standardized lab procedures.
what do visual impairments usually include?
- total blindness from birth
- gradual loss of vision
- muscular disorders
why are people who wear glasses/contacts not considered visually impaired?
it is easy to obtain resources like glasses that fully restore a person’s functioning.
a large percentage of visual impairments have what?
unknown causes.
what is the leading cause of blindness?
diabetes.
approximately how many people have a visual impairment?
1.5 million people.
where do most visual impairments start?
from birth (approximately 60%) or old age (past 70).
why is the community visual impaired people growing?
people are living longer.
previously, where were visually impaired people taught?
in specialized resident schools seperate from their families.
the original social security act only offered public assistance (welfare) to people who were what?
blind.
today, people who are blind automatically qualify for what?
social security.
what is the randolph-sheppard act?
only blind people could operate vending stands in federal buildings.
what is the wagner o’day act?
required the federal government to purchase products produced in workshops run by blind people.
most states have separate agencies for people who are what?
blind.
what is one of the most prevalent disabilities in the united states?
hearing loss with 11% of the population/28 million people.
what is hearing loss measured by?
decibels.
what are the factors in diagnosing hearing loss?
age of onset and the site of the loss (can often determine the type of treatment used.
what is prelingual deafness?
occurs before a person has learned to speak.
what is post lingual deafness?
occurs after a person has learned to speak.
what percentage of hearing loss cases are unknown?
about 25%.
what are the causes of some hearing impairments?
congenital (at birth) and acquired.
why do many deaf individuals consider themselves to be a part of a different culture, the deaf culture?
- this helps them find support within a community of other individuals who are deaf
- they also do not view deafness as a disability
do deaf people have children that can hear?
yes, a lot of the time.
what is dual sensory loss?
both blindness and deafness.
how rare is dual-sensory loss?
it is a low-incidence category.
individuals with low-incidence disabilities tend to go where?
to specialized resident schools.
what are mobility impairments?
interferes with an individual’s ability to move and their coordination.
what is the cause of many mobility impairments?
hereditary.
many individuals with mobility issues also have what?
other disabilities.
why are health disorders and chronic illnesses considered disabilities?
they limit functioning and require treatment.
how are health disorders are unique?
some are invisible, which must make a person decide if they want to share information about their disorder to receive accommodations.
what does it mean when some health disorders are episodic?
they can be recurring, have relapses, or flare-ups, which makes them unpredictable.
what are intellectual disabilities?
includes mental retardation, down syndrome, and autism.
government funding for education on intellectual disabilities has begun when?
only recently.
what is mental retardation?
significant subaverage general intellectual functioning resulting in impairments in adaptive behavior.
what does an IQ level between 55-70 mean?
mild mental retardation.
what does an IQ level between 40-54 mean?
moderate mental retardation.
what does an IQ level between 25-39 mean?
severe mental retardation.
what does an IQ level below 24 mean?
profound mental retardation.
what is adaptive behavior?
behaviors that are necessary to function (like social and communication behaviors).
when is mental retardation typically diagnosed?
between birth to age 22.
in the U.S., how many people experience some degree of mental retardation?
around 6 million people (or 3% of the population) with around 90% of this group having mild mental retardation.
what are the causes of mental retardation?
- maternal infection
- birth trauma
- postnatal infections
- chromosome abnormalities
what are cognitive disabilities?
impairs perception, memory, information processing, reasoning, sensory discrimination, and attention.
what can cognitive disabilities include?
learning disabilities and traumatic brain injuries.
learning disabilities were once considered what?
disabilities that a person “outgrew”.
adults with learning disabilities are frequently what?
underemployed, their spouses often have to take over the financial responsibilities and other family duties.
what are the causes of cognitive disabilities?
- neurological or genetic
- may be damage to the central nervous system at birth
- abnormal fetal position
traumatic brain injuries are the leading cause of death in what group?
with children/teens with disabilities, 80% being male.
what was the last of the types of disabilities to receive government funding for services and resources?
psychiatric disabilities.
what do psychiatric disabilities include?
- mental illnesses
- autism
- substance abuse
how are psychiatric disabilities often viewed by the general population?
seen as self-inflicting, that it is their fault that they have them.
individuals with severe mental disorders were often what?
institutionalized, however the development of medications helped to deinstitutionalize these disabilities.
disadvantages are not what?
disabilities.
how does the ADA define disabilities?
- the presence of a physical, intellectual, cognitive, or psychiatric condition(s)
- significant impairment
- individuals with these impairments are subjected to prejudice
who does the ADA offer protections to?
those who are “regarded as having a disability.”
what can prejudice be?
gender-specific.
what are entitlement programs?
- people are provided services regardless of funds available
- most are federal
- ex: medicaid or medicare
what are eligibility programs?
- individuals may not receive services if the funds are not available
- most are administered by the state
- most disability programs are these
more people are living longer due to modern medicine, which means what?
their potential to get a disability as they get older raises
the number of people with disabilities in america is over what?
45 million people.
what do international classifications of impairments, disabilities, and handicaps look at?
disability in terms of pathology, losses, disorders, impairments, defects, and abnormalities.
what was the significance of the international classification of functioning, disability, and health (ICF) published by the WHO?
thought to be more accurate as it addresses some of the mistakes ICIDH made.
why is it hard to count how many people have disabilities?
- some disorders are still stigmatized, which makes it less likely that they will be reported
- some people are not aware that they have a disability at all
what is the annual disability cost?
over $23 billion.
what is important to note about the number of disability beneficiaries?
it has increased 57% from 4 million to 5.3 million people.
what are the some of the reasons for increasing disability rates?
- advances in neonatal medicine
- advances in emergency medicine and trauma care
- aging population
- people with disabilities living longer
- liberalization and expansion of the definition of disability
- more accurate counting
- medical and societal advances
- lack of resources and poverty
how do multiple births relate to cerebral palsy?
multiple births make it 4x more likely to have a child with cerebral palsy.
in the 1980s, only blank of people with traumatic brain injuries survived.
10%.
how many people with traumatic brain injuries survive today?
90%.
in the past, disabilities that had limited motability (like paralysis) tended to lead to what?
secondary infections.
in 2030, what is the percentage of older adults?
1 in 5 people will be over 65 and by 2050, more older adults will exist than children.
more than blank of children with disabilities survive into adulthood.
90%.
economic slumps and depression often lead to more people saying they have what?
disabilities.
more disabilities have been caused by what?
sports/recreational activity.
the lack of resources and poverty is often associated with what?
higher rates of disability.
