The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a disability as the condition of being disabled. How then do they define disabled? The dictionary says, “incapacitated by illness or injury; also : physically or mentally impaired in a way that substantially limits activity especially in relation to employment or education.” Vassar’s Office of Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (AEO) defines a student with a disability as any person “who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.”
Many times when people hear the word disability they have the image of someone in a wheelchair in mind; however, there are both visible and invisible disabilities. There are learning disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, mobility impairments, sensory disabilities, and chronic health impairments. Because this blog will focus on disability in the context of education, I will refer to the thirteen disability categories listed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
- autism
- deaf-blindness
- deafness
- emotional disturbance
- hearing impairment
- mental retardation (now known as
- multiple disabilities
- orthopedic impairment
- other health impairment
- specific learning disability
- speech or language impairment
- traumatic brain injury
- visual impairment
For more information on how each of these disabilities is defined, visit http://nichcy.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/gr3.pdf