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Disability awareness > Module 4 > Page 5

 

Disability - understanding the issues

Physical disability

Physical disabilities occur widely and can stem from a wide range of causes.

Among the most common permanent conditions are partial or total paralysis, amputation, spinal injury, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy.

In some conditions such as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, there may be associated impairments of the person's sight, speech, co-ordination or learning.

Implications for education

• access is a major issue for students with reduced mobility.
• there may be difficulties in gaining access to the college building, particularly if it is old, and getting from place to place to attend lectures or tutorials may be problematic.
• a person who has reduced use of their hands may experience difficulties with note-taking or page turning.
• the physical energy required to access and negotiate the learning environment may cause the student to become fatigued.
• concentration may also be affected by pain relief medication.

The task indicated above is to carry out an access audit of your institution and classroom to examine whether they are accessible to people with disabilities. Click on the link above to access the Word Doc and print it. Once the data has been collected, feed back your results to the groups by using the 'Access Audit' section on the discussion board.

Communicating with a person with a physical disability

The following points should be noted when communicating with a person with a physical disability:

1. Ask the person what their needs are.
2. Seat yourself at the level of the person's wheelchair when you talk to them
3. Do not lean on the wheelchair, as it is part of a person's personal space
4. Do not assume that assistance is needed – always ask
5. If a person needs assistance, ask them for directions as to how to assist. There is a correct way to manoeuvre a wheelchair
6. If the person uses a personal assistant, don't ask him/her questions which are intended for the person with the disability.

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