100 Days of A11y

Types of Disabilities, Part 2

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In Types of Disabilities, Part 1, I learned and shared about visual, auditory, and mobility disabilities. In this post I'll cover the rest of the list, diving deeper into the the categories covered by the Deque material and CPACC Body of Knowledge: cognitive, speech, seizure, psychological, and compound.

Cognitive

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Cognitive disabilities are the most common type of disability due to its broad definitions, which include impairments in thinking, language, learning, perception, attention, memory, and problem solving.

Types of cognitive disabilities:

Causes of cognitive disabilities:

Suggested AT or strategies for improving focus, leveraging learning styles, or accommodating short-term memory:

Additional reading about cognitive disabilities:

Digital Environments
Challenge Solution
Complex designs
  • Designers can create simple, predictable, organized designs
Complex tasks
  • Simplify steps or user components
Technical problems and errors
  • Alert about errors
  • Provide clear solutions
Physical and Digital Environments
Challenge Solution
Text-based information
  • Supplement with images and visuals
  • Use simple and easy-to-understand language

Reading (dyslexia, dysgraphia)

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Digital Environment
Challenge Solution
Floating words
  • Font for Dyslexia
  • Additional time to complete tasks
Letter confusion, such as p b d q
  • Font, contrast, style customization
  • Additional time to complete tasks
Timed sessions
  • Time extensions or saved work during timeouts
  • Screen reader to listen along with text or view highlighted words or phrases
  • Visible focus indicators to keep track of their position on the page
  • Applications or dictionaries that present words with pictures
  • Additional time to complete tasks
Deciphering the way content is presented
  • Custom style sheet
CAPTCHA
  • Alternate type of security feature or problem to solve
Difficulty processing visual content
  • Screen reader to listen to content
  • Additional time to complete tasks
Difficulty accurately spelling words
  • Spelling and grammar checkers

Additional Reading:

Math (dyscalculia)

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People with dyscalculia have difficulty understanding or using math based on how their brain functions, as opposed to experiencing a psychologically-induced fear.

Digital Environments
ChallengeSolution
Distinguishing right from left in graphic images
  • Data table or text description
  • Additional time to complete tasks
Graphs, figures and diagrams (difficult to copy)
  • Text-to-speech to listen to problems
  • Additional time to complete tasks
Calculations
  • Reference sheet with common equations, as an accommodation
  • Onscreen calculator, as an accommodation
  • Additional time to complete tasks

Speech

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A person with a speech disability may have trouble articulating words or producing speech sounds. Often times people with speech disabilities will use unaided or aided Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to give them a voice. A person with a speech disability may or may not have additional disabilities. In that case, the same design considerations for blindness, low vision, motor disabilities, auditory disabilities, and cognitive disabilities may need to be used.

Causes of speech disabilities:

Some types of speech disabilities include:

Suggested AT or strategies for people with speech disabilities:

Digital Environments
ChallengeSolution
Live chats / webinars / teleconferences (voice-based communication)
  • offer text-based chat
Additional disability (low vision, hard of hearing, etc.)
  • create interoperable content for optimal accessibility;
  • captions & transcripts;
  • keyboard operable;
  • multiple formats of content
Physical Environments
ChallengeSolution
May have mobility issues
  • same solutions for motoric disabilities
Additional disability (low vision, hard of hearing)
  • create interoperable content for optimal accessibility
  • captions & transcripts
  • keyboard operable
  • multiple formats of content
General
Challenge Solution
producing speech sounds
  • low-tech AAC (boards, gestures);
  • high-tech AAC (computer-generated voice);
  • patience

Additional resources:

Seizure Disorders

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Seizures are electrical impulses in the brain that can interfere with information processing or create involuntary muscle movement. Photo-epileptic is one type of seizure.

Causes of seizures:

Digital Environment
Challenge Solution
intense flashing light, blinking, or flickering
  • eliminate or reduce speed/intensity of flashing/animation

Psychological/Psychiatric

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Psychological disorders encompass a wide range of emotional and mental conditions. When the condition impacts daily life activities, it becomes a disability. Some causes of mental illness may include:

Anxiety

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Anxiety disorders are the most common of psychological disorders. This disorder manifests itself as fear and worry about situations or objects. A few anxiety disorders are:

Mood

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Mood disorders create mood fluctuations in that person. Some subcategories of mood (affective) disorders:

Schizophrenia

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Schizophrenia is broken into two groups: positive (hallucinations and delusions) and negative (lack of motivation, dreary mood, isolating). It's theorized that this disorder is caused by either genetics, chemical imbalance, or environmental factors. Sometimes people with this disorder can struggle with:

It's estimated that 2.4 million (1.1%) Americans have schizophrenia. It's also estimated that 4.9% of people with schizophrenia commit suicide with the average age of the life lost being 28.5 years old.

Additional Resources about Schizophrenia:

Other Psychological Disorders

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Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

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ADHD is categorized as a behavioral disorder. It's broken up into 3 subeleventyNavigation:
parent: "WAS"
title: "Day "
tags: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

Personality Disorders

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Personality disorders are when people's behavior deviate from cultural expectations. Two common personality disorders are antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder.

Eating Disorders

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Eating disorders cause concern over food and weight. The 3 most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive (binge) eating.

Multiple/Compound

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It's possible to have more than one disability. People with multiple disabilities may experience a combination of disabilities (of different degrees) that affect their speech, motor, visual, or hearing abilities. More inclusive accommodations help anyone with multiple disabilities to live life more independently.

In Conclusion

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Without understanding the people within this multifaceted culture of disability, we can't create solutions to the challenges they face. Read my other posts from my WAS journey that go further into keeping perspective about the people we are trying to include and serve: