Talk:Disability

Here is a partial list of disabilities, probably not as conceptually well-organized as it could be. We invite knowledgeable people to put this page in order!

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Hello, may I ask as politely as possible where you get your knowledge base on disabilities to say that this list is not conceptually well-organized? These are the major sections of disabilities. Did you want me to put further explanation after each term so that it would sound educated to your uneducated mind on this subject? So if you say this is not well-organized, but that you don't know and need someone mor knowledgeable, how did you know it is not well-organized? This seems nonsensical to me. This brings up another important and general question. How do the people of this Wiki jukge if something is scholarly or not, if you are not scholoars on everything? You must just look at it and think if it sounds good according to some loose and uneducated idea of waht "sounds" educated. Is this pride? I don't know, maybe you know something I don't, but then agon, how in that case, how would you know it was not well organized, and thus asked for someone knowledgeable on the subject. Interesting. How do you know it is not in order already? I wish I could give you my email address.

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Comments about a page, especially when they get very lengthy, are put on "talk" pages like this page.----

You seem to be new to Wikipedia. Well, anyone can add anything they want to any page, and others can feel free to change it (or change it back!). I suggest you read the welcome page and follow the links. If you want to spend very much time on Wikipedia, you'd better get used to other people editing what you do. This requires thick skin.

The list didn't make any sense to me as a list of disabilities--that's all. That was just my own opinion. I don't know "the people of this Wiki" judge the scholarliness of anything; that's up to each of them individually.

--Larry Sanger

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Q on disabilities: How do you place into the existing different categories self induced ones such as alcoholism (recognized by ADA)?---- Under Substance Abuse[?]...:-). I believe this is only recognized as a disability "protected fully by the ADA," if the substance abuser is in treatment. The ADA defines "a disabiltiy as anything that interferes with one or more functions of every day living." Therefore, perceived disabilities, are counted too, like skin that is marked with many visisble large "strawberry" birthmarks. Can check on alcoholism...

I suppose a recalcitrant spouse could be a disability, then... (ducking)---- So could Wikipedia addiction[?]...(running for his/her life)----.

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I took my definition from US Law, the ADA. Where did you ever get this one? The ADA is vague. Your definition has no meaning to me. And this real or imagined disability is imagined by whom, may I ask. Please give a source for your definition. As for your 2 main categories, do you really think there is a big difference between a baby born blind and one who becomes so at a week old? RoseParks

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I meant to use 'physical and mental' instead of 'real and imagined'. That might have sidetracked you.

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I am still asking for the source of your definition. The ADA definition: A "disabled person" is one who can not perform one or more of the activities of daily living" is vague enough. Yours, "a disability is some physical or mental limitation which prevents full utilization of a person's ability/functionality." strikes me as meaningless. A person's ability to do what? Further, some disabilities are both physical and mental or this distinction can not be made at this point. There is an entire school of psychiatry that would claim that many of the conditions that have been called mental, like "depression," are actually chemical imbalances in the brain. This is supported to a certain extent by the fact that medications that restore certain chemical imbalances in the brain, do return patients to a state of mental health. Example: All those new antidepressants one hears about in the Media, are SSRI's, that is selective seritonin reuptake inhibitors and serve to bring the level of seritonin, a neurotransmitter, to a normal levels, in a patient using them. This gives some credence to the hypothesis that atleast some mental disorders are, in fact, physical impairments. The Courts, in enforcing the ADA, and the Justice Department primarily, in setting guidelines based on the ADA, have separated them, simply because, physical disabilities require different accomodations from "mental" ones. A person in a wheelchair, to be able to work, for instance, needs a workplace with wider doorways, aisles and turn space, air-pressure doors, lower shelves, possibly assistive equipment, etc. A person who is obssesive-compulsive, may need frequent breaks at work, to say, wash their hands or comb their hair, repeatedly.

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The definition is my own and not from any dictionary or other reference work.---- Then if you don't mind I will replace it with a recognized one. RoseParks.

Alternate Scheme:

Behavioral disability[?]

Blindness

Chronic disability[?]

Communicative disability[?]

Deafness

Developmental disability[?]

Learning disability

Mental disability[?]

Multiple disability[?]

Temporary disability[?]

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Can someone expand on how disabilities are treated differently in different cultures/countries?---- Do you really want to hear in how many countries they are simply killed or abandoned as children?

Of course we do! What could possibly be a better use of an encyclopedia than to shed the harsh light of reality upon the practices of people across the planet so that they can be compared and hopefully changed where needed? --LDC

as a disabled person (CP) this page says alot about things - i just wish people that i meet would A) not say "spastic" to me and B) not talk slow to me as if i am mentally disabled as well as physically disabled.

-- Paul Melville Austin

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This entire article needs a rewrite, probably under "Disability" rather than "Disabilities". A broad definition rather than a list of medical conditions would be a good start, as well as the social model of disability (http://www.daa.org.uk/text/Social%20Model%20or%20Unsociable%20Muddle%20text.htm ), and the distinction between a disability and an impairment -- Tarquin

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I work near a school or training center for the blind. Sometimes, I ask a cane-carrying blind person if they would like help. Most of the time, they accept.

How can I reconcile my offer to help (and their frequent ready acceptance) with the "etiquette guideline" advocated in the article? Are they accepting only to be polite (despite my rudeness for offering)? Is it a special case, since I'm near a school and they are more likely to actually need help? Am I miscalculating the proportion of accepters (maybe more say no than i remember)?

I've had numerous encounters wherein the persons I helped seemed genuinely grateful for my offers. Once in Penn Station[?] I carried some bags for a blind couple. They said I was much more polite and helpful than the conductors.

I daresay I'm pretty good at offering help (and taking no for an answer). Absent a really good reason to stop offering help to people who seem to need it, I'm going to keep walking up to blind people and saying, "Hi! Would you like some help?"

-- Ed Poor, Tuesday, June 11, 2002

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however, the social exclusion they may experience (lack of accessible transport, no adapted public toilets, buildings which are innaccessible) is caused by their environment, not their physical condition.

That is odd, it is due to the combination. If it has nothing to do with disability we are talking about social exclusion of everybody, and it does not belong in this article. - Patrick 13:05 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)

disability is a social exclusion. Might need to NPOV it, but disability campaigners would say that the problem a wheelchair user has in entering a building is entirely the fault of the building. Saying it's also because they can't walk would be "normalization" -- saying that there is something 'bad' or 'wrong' about an impairment, and that walking is the 'correct' way to be -- Tarquin 13:17 18 Jun 2003 (UTC)