Transcript OVERVIEW OF SPECIFIC DISABILITIES

OVERVIEW OF SPECIFIC
DISABILITIES
BECKWITH RESIDENTIAL SUPPORT
SERVICES(BRSS)
LANGUAGE:PREFFERED USAGE
Always remember to emphasize the person, not the disability.
 Avoid the following terms when referring to individuals with disabilities:
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Wheelchair bound/confined to a wheelchair
Afflicted/afflicted with/afflicted by
Blind as a bat
Deaf and dumb, deaf mute
Defect/defective
Deformed
Cripple/crip/crippled/the crippled crippling
Group home
Homebound
Invalid
Normal (as opposite of having a disability)
Pitiful
Poor, unfortunate
Stricken
Victim
SPECIFIC DISABILITIES
 BRSS is home to students with various disabilities.
As a Personal Assistant you may be required to offer
specific services depending on the varying needs of
these specific disabilities. To learn more about
specific disabilities click on the following:
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Spinal Cord Injury
Cerebral Palsy
Muscular Dystrophy
Freidreich’s Ataxia
SPINAL CORD INJURY
In general, injuries that are higher in your spinal cord produce more paralysis. For
example, a spinal cord injury at the neck may cause paralysis in both arms and legs and
may make it impossible to breathe without a respirator, while a lower injury may affect
only your legs and lower parts of your body.
 Spinal cord injuries are classified as partial or complete, depending on how much of the
cord width is damaged.
 In a partial spinal cord injury, the spinal cord is able to convey some messages to or
from your brain. These individuals may retain some sensation and possibly some
motor function below the affected area.
 A complete spinal cord injury is defined by total or near total loss of motor function
and sensation below the area of injury.
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SPINAL CORD INJURY
 Spinal Cord Injuries of any kind may result in one or
more of the following signs and symptoms:
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Pain or an intense stinging sensation caused by damage to the
nerve fibers in your spinal cord
Loss of movement
Loss of sensation, including the ability to feel heat, cold and
touch
Loss of bowel or bladder control
Exaggerated reflex activities or spasms
Changes in sexual function, sexual sensitivity and fertility
Difficulty breathing, coughing or clearing secretions from your
lungs
SPINAL CORD INJURY
 Complications of a spinal cord injury may include:
 Urinary tract problems
 Bowel management difficulties
 Pressure sores
 Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
 Lung and breathing problems
 Autonomic dysreflexia – irritation or pain below the level of the injury sends a
signal that fails to reach your brain, producing a reflex action that can constrict
blood vessels. The result is a rise in blood pressure and a drop in heart rate that
can result in stroke or seizure.
 Spasticity
 Weight control issues
 Sexual dysfunction
 Pain
 New injuries
For more information on spinal cord injuries visit:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/spinal-cord-injury/
CEREBRAL PALSY
 Cerebral Palsy is a group of disorders impairing control of movement that do not
worsen over time.
 CP is divided into four different classifications to describe the different movement
impairments. These classifications reflect the area of brain damaged. The four major
classifications are:
 Spastic
 Athetoid/Dyskinetic
 Ataxic
 Mixed
 In 30 percent of these cases the spastic form is found along with one of the other
types.
CEREBRAL PALSY
 The incidence of Cerebral Palsy is about 2 per 1000 live births.
 The incidence is higher in males than in females.
 Prevalence of Cerebral Palsy is best calculated around the
school entry age of about six years.
 All types of CP are characterized by abnormal muscle tone,
posture, reflexes, or motor development and coordination.
 The classical symptoms are spasticity, spasms, other
involuntary movements, unsteady gait, problems with
balance, and/or soft tissue findings consisting largely of
decreased muscle mass.
 Scissor walking and toe walking are common among people
with CP who are able to walk.
CEREBRAL PALSY
 The cause of the majority of cases of CP is uncertain.
 Contributing cases of CP are asphyxia, hypoxia of the
brain, birth trauma, premature birth, central nervous
system infections and certain infections in the mother
during and before birth. CP is also more common in
multiple births.
 CP is not a progressive disorder (meaning the actual
brain damage does not worsen), but the symptoms can
become worse over time due to ‘wear and tear’.
 People who have CP tend to develop arthritis at a
younger age than normal because of the pressure placed
on joints by excessively toned and stiff muscles.
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
 Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of genetic,
hereditary muscle diseases that cause progressive
muscle weakness.
 Muscular dystrophies are characterized by
progressive skeletal weakness, defects in muscle
proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.
 Nine diseases including Duchenne, Becker, limb
girdle, congenital, facioscapulohumeral, myotonic,
oculopharyngeal, distal, and Emery-Dreifuss are
always classified as muscular dystrophy.
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
 Most types of MD are multi-system disorders with manifestations in
body systems including the heart, gastrointestinal and nervous systems,
endocrine glands, skin, eyes, and other organs.
 The best-known type, Duchenne muscular dystrophy is inherited in an
X-linked recessive pattern, meaning that the mutated gene that causes
the disorder is located on the X chromosome, one of the two sex
chromosomes, and is thus considered sex linked. In males one altered
copy of the gene in each cell is sufficient to cause the condition.
 Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker’s muscular dystrophy are
caused by mutations of the gene for the dystrophin protein and lead to
an overabundance of the enzyme creatine kinase.
 Muscular dystrophy is progressive and no specific treatment is known.
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
 Symptoms
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Progressive Muscular Wasting (weakness)
Poor Balance
Frequent Falls
Walking Difficulty
Waddling Gait
Calf Pain
Limited Range of Movement
Muscle Contractures
Respiratory Difficulty
Drooping eyelids (ptosis)
Gonadal Atrophy
Scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
Inability to work
FREIDREICH’S ATAXIA
 Freidreich’s Ataxia is a rare, genetic,
neurodegenerative, multi-symptom disorder.
 About 1 in 50,000 people in the United States have
FA.
 Onset of symptoms is usually between the ages of 5
and 15, sometimes even earlier and sometimes
significantly later.
FREIDREICH’S ATAXIA
 Symptoms:
 Muscle weakness and loss of coordination (ataxia) in the arms
and legs
 Vision impairment, hearing loss, and slurred speech
 Aggressive scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
 Diabetes mellitus and carbohydrate intolerance
 A serious heart condition (enlarged heart – hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy)
FREIDREICH’S ATAXIA
 These symptoms reflect the death of cells in certain parts
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of the nervous system.
The mental capabilities of people coping with FA remain
completely intact.
For most, progressive loss of muscle strength and control
leads to motor incapacitation and the full time use of a
wheelchair by the late teens or early twenties.
The course of the disorder is progressive.
Freidreich’s Ataxia is inherited recessively; a person
develops the disorder only when he or she inherits genes
from both parents.