Physical and Health Disabilities/Impairments:

By: Emily Sormanti

&

Khristi Green

• If you were told that you would be working with a student who has a physical or health disability, what would you presume about that student? What would you not know?

• Think about what it would have been like to miss a month or more of school when you were in elementary, middle, or high school. What concerns might you have had?

The following conditions and disorders can be thought of in terms of how the effect the

individual….• Chronic- (Example: Cerebral Palsy)

• Acute- (Example: Childhood Cancer)

• Progressive- (Example: Muscular Dystrophy)

• Episodic- (Example: Epilepsy)

IDEA definition of “Physical Disability”:

• Conditions that affects movement- that is, an individuals gross-motor control or mobility (e.g. walking, standing) and fine-motor control (e.g. writing, holding/manipulating small objects using the hands). They may be mild, moderate, or severe.

Types of Paralysis:

• Monoplegia

• Paraplegia

• Hemiplegia

• Tetraplegia/Quadriplegia

Paralysis:• Paralysis is related to a number of different medical conditions or diagnoses. The most common are:

– Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

– Brachial Plexus Injury

– Brain Injury

– Cerebral Palsy

– Friedreich’s Ataxia

– Guillain-Barre Syndrome

– Multiple Sclerosis

– Muscular Dystrophy

– Post-Polio Syndrome

– Spina Bifida

– Spinal Cord Injury

– Stroke

– Syringomyelia/ Tethered Cord

– Transverse Myelitis

Neurological Disorders:

• Cerebral Palsy– Spastic Cerebral Palsy– Athetoid Cerebral Palsy– Ataxic Cerebral Palsy– Mixed Cerebral Palsy

• Spina Bifida

• Spinal Cord Injury

Musculoskeletal Disorders:

• Two of the most common are:

– Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

– Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):Types of TBI:

– Closed Head Injury– Open Head Injury

Of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

– 50,000 die; – 235,000 are hospitalized; and – 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department.

Among children ages 0 to 14 years, TBI results in an estimated:

– 2,685 deaths; – 37,000 hospitalizations; and – 435,000 emergency department visits annually.1

Other Health Impairments:

• “Other Health Impairments” is the IDEA term for students having medical conditions that result in limited strength,

vitality, or awareness. Examples of “Other Health Impairments”:– Asthma– Epilepsy/”Seizure Disorder”– HIV/AIDS– Cancer– Sickle Cell Disease– Diabetes

Activity Time!!!

The emergency procedure for seizures:

What to do during a seizure:

• Keep objects away from the individual's mouth• Cushion head• Turn individual on side• Do not try to restrain the individual• Look for medical I.D.•  What to do after a seizure:

• Ask the person their name and if they know where they are.• If the person is confused, incoherent, or is not able to answer, contact University Police or 911 immediately.• Call for emergency assistance in any of the following cases: • The seizure is lasting longer than one minute• The person is passing from one seizure to another• Breathing or pulse is faint or non-existent• The person is extremely disoriented after emerging from the seizure• Instructors and staff should assess the situation and use their best judgment in determining the need for

immediate medical intervention. Erring on the side of caution is usually the best course of action when a student is having a seizure.

Characteristics of individuals with physical and health disabilities:

• Cognitive and Academic

• Behavior

• Emotional

• Social

• Physical and Medical

General Accommodations for students with

physical impairments:• Provide adapted grip for crayon, marker, pencil, or pen.• Provide adapted paper • Provide paper stabilizer (clipboard)• Provide a bookstand to stabilize the books• Provide an advanced reading aid for scanning and converting standard print

text into electronic text• Apply adaptive features such as:

– Enlargement features– Modification of text and background color– Speech feedback for auditory reading

• Provide computer with:– word processing application with adapted access (control panel accessibility

feature)– adaptive pointing devises for standard keyboard use– enlarged keyboard (IntelliKeys)– touch screen (Magic Touch)– trackball/joystick.