DISABILITY is a
normal part of the human experience, and people
with disabilities are part of the Australian
community. The Australian Bureau of
Statistics figures indicate that 20 per cent
of the Australian population, or more than three
million people, have one or more disabilities;
and that this proportion is increasing, in
particular with the ageing of the population.
Around 2.6 million Australians have a physical
disability of some kind (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2004).
Physical disability
pertains to total or partial loss of a
person’s bodily functions (i.e.walking,
gross motor skills, bladder control etc) and
total or partial loss of a part of the body
(i.e. a person with an amputation). Examples of
physical disability include:
- amputation;
- arthritis;
- cerebral
palsy;
- multiple-sclerosis;
- muscular
dystrophy;
- paraplegia;
- post-polio
syndrome;
- quadriplegia;
- spina
bifida
There are many different
kinds of disability and a wide variety of
situations people experience.
- The disability may be
permanent or temporary.
- It may exist from
birth or be acquired later in life.
- A person may have one
disability or a number of disabilities.
- A person may be
treated as having a disability when in fact
he or she does not.
- A person's disability
may be apparent, such as loss of a limb; or
hidden, such as epilepsy or a depressive
illness.
- Disability may be more
or less severe in its impact.
- People with the same
disability are as likely as anyone else to
have different abilities.
The World Health
Organisation (WHO) has provided the following
definitions
impairment
- an anatomic or functional abnormality
or loss which may or may not result in a
disability. This is understood as the medical
condition.
disability
- the loss or reduction of functional ability
which results from an impairment. This is
understood as the functional consequence of a
medical condition.
handicap
- the disadvantage caused by the disability
i.e. a person may have a transport handicap
or an employment handicap. This is understood
as the social consequence. The handicap is
therefore an artificial barrier which can
usually be avoided with insight and proper
planning for both the physical environment
and the provision of services. People are
only handicapped when the community and its
representatives fail to consider the needs of
people with disabilities - it has nothing to
do with the disability itself.
PDCN recognises
that the word ‘handicapped’ is
totally inappropriate, offensive and negative
and it has only been used here for a specific
meaning.
Also see — Statistics
about people with physical disability in
NSW
