COMMON DISABILITIES

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Adapted from The MCSS eLearning Course: May I Help You? Welcoming Customers With Disabilities.

Impairment : A reduction in physical or mental function as result of a medical condition. The medical condition could be caused by an injury, disease or other disorder.

Some common disabilities include; Developmental/ Intellectual, Hearing, Learning, Mental Health, Physical/Mobility, and Visual.

Barrier : Anything that stops a person with a disability from accessing a service or standard of service available to others or anything that makes it difficult for them to take part in society.

Disability : The restriction in a persons functional capacity that results from an impairment, i.e., functional limitations.

PHYSICAL/MOBILITY Basically, a person with a physical disability has difficulty moving, standing, sitting or physically communicating. It sometimes may be difficult to identify a person with a physical disability. While we most often associate people with a physical disability as using a wheelchair, physical disabilities are much broader than mobility. There are many types and degrees of physical disabilities. Some people with mobility-related disabilities use wheelchairs, but others use devices, such as walkers, crutches, scooters, canes, orthotic braces and prosthetic limbs. People who have limited use of their arms or hands, who have difficulty with speech, who have arthritis, heart or lung conditions or amputations - are also considered to have physical disabilities.

VISUAL Visual impairments reduce ones ability to see or see clearly. Very few people are totally blind. Many have limited/low vision such as tunnel vision, where a person has a loss of peripheral or side vision, or a lack of central vision, which means they cant see straight ahead but they can see peripherally. Some can see the outline of objects while others can only see the direction of light. Impaired vision can restrict a customers ability to read signs, locate landmarks or see hazards. It is estimated that one million Canadians have some kind of disability that makes it difficult or impossible for them to read conventional print. Our aging population means an increasing number of people are becoming part of this group. In some cases, it may be difficult to tell if a person has a visual disability. Others may use a magnifier, guide dog or white cane.

HEARING People who are deaf, deafened, deaf-blind or hard of hearing have varying degrees of hearing loss, and are sometimes referred to as having a non-visible disability. Deaf: used to describe individuals with a severe to profound hearing loss, with little or no residual hearing. Some deaf people use American Sign Language (ASL) or langue des signes qubcoise (LSQ) to communicate, while others use speech from residual hearing and a hearing aid, technical devices or cochlear implants, and/or speech-reading to communicate. Deafened : an individual who was born with full hearing, but lost it gradually or suddenly. Hard of Hearing : used to describe individuals who use spoken language to communicate. Most of these individuals can understand speech sounds with or without hearing aids and technical devices. Some hard of hearing persons may communicate through speech-reading, while others may use sign language, finger spelling, writing or a combination of two or more techniques. Deaf-Blind : a condition where there is a combined hearing and vision disability that results in significant difficulties in accessing information and activities of daily living. Communication is usually through an intervener who is used as help for the customer.

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COMMON DISABILITIES

(page 2 of 2)

Adapted from The MCSS eLearning Course: May I Help You? Welcoming Customers With Disabilities.

Impairment : A reduction in physical or mental function as result of a medical condition. The medical condition could be caused by an injury, disease or other disorder.

Some common disabilities include; Developmental/ Intellectual, Hearing, Learning, Mental Health, Physical/Mobility, and Visual.

Barrier : Anything that stops a person with a disability from accessing a service or standard of service available to others or anything that makes it difficult for them to take part in society.

Disability : The restriction in a persons functional capacity that results from an impairment, i.e., functional limitations.

DEVELOPMENTAL/INTELLECTUAL A developmental disability, also called an intellectual disability, includes intellectual growth and capacity that are significantly below average. It involves a permanent limitation in a person's ability to learn, with effects ranging from mild to profound. People with a developmental/intellectual disability may have difficulty doing many things others may take for granted. For example, people with intellectual/developmental disabilities may have limitations in communications, social interactions, daily living, or movement skills. Some people who have a developmental/intellectual disability were born without the disability, but developed it later in life due to an illness or accident. Treat all your customers with respect and dignity. Likely, they have more awareness and understanding than you may realize.

MENTAL HEALTH Mental health disabilities include anxiety disorders (i.e. phobias, panic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders) and mood disorders (i.e. depression, bi-polar), as well as schizophrenia. The numerous psychiatric and psychological disorders that fall under this heading may lead to limitations in several areas: cognitive, emotional, social functioning and even physical functioning. As with other disabilities, the degree of impairment may vary from mild to severe. People with mental health disabilities look like anyone else. You likely wont likely know that your customer has a mental health disability unless you are informed of it. And, usually it will not affect your customer service interaction at all. However, in some cases, it may, and you should be prepared for this possibility.

LEARNING The term learning disability is used to describe a wide range of information processing disorders that may affect visual, auditory and organizational abilities. Some examples of learning disabilities include dyslexia (problems in reading and related language-based learning), dyscalculia (problems in mathematics), and dysgraphia (problems in writing). Because learning disabilities are nonvisible disabilities and have wideranging manifestations, they remain a confusing area. People with learning disabilities are not incompetent, clumsy or lazy. They possess average to above-average intelligence, but they may be facing barriers in specific areas of performance.

A key point: Some people think that disabilities are the barrier, but actually it is the environment that presents certain physical, sociological and attitudinal circumstances that create barriers. These circumstances are based on a stereotypical view of what the human experience should be like. So remember circumstances in the environment create barriers for people with disabilities their disabilities dont.

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