Mountain Movers

 

Disability Definitions

And Topic-Specific Resources

 

Please note that resources provided are not necessarily Christian organizations/publications.  We do not endorse any specific organization, and encourage you to evaluate these resources for yourself.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is a disorder characterized by pervasive inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity and can result in significant functional impairment.

For more information: www.chaddnorcal.org

Book:  You and Your A.D.D. Child by Paul Warren and Jody Capehart, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities that are caused by unusual brain development. People with ASDs tend to have problems with social and communication skills. Many people with ASDs also have unusual ways of learning, paying attention, or reacting to different sensations. ASDs begin during childhood and last throughout a person's life.

For more information:  www.autism-society.org

Book:  Facing Autism by Lynn M. Hamilton, Waterbrook Press.

 

Blindness/Visual Impairment

Congenital or early onset blindness or vision impairment impacts upon early learning and development in a myriad of ways. Research has found that as much as 90 to 95% of early learning for infants and young children is visual. Children who are blind or visually impaired are the only children, who, during infancy, cannot "put their world together" visually. Without the ability to observe his/her environment, the infant or young child does not have opportunity for casual, incidental learning. The remaining senses do not automatically compensate for the lack of vision. For a child who is blind or severely visually impaired, a strong foundation for development requires the use of strategies specifically designed to address their unique learning needs. Delays in language development are common in blind and visually impaired children.

For more information: www.nfb.org

 

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy refers to a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and to maintain balance and posture. It is due to a non-progressive brain abnormality, which means that it does not get worse over time. People with cerebral palsy have damage to the part of the brain that controls muscle tone. Muscle tone is the amount of resistance to movement in a muscle.

For more information: www.ucpsacto.org

Books:  Children with Cerebral Palsy, A Parents’ Guide, edited by Elaine Geralis, Woodbine House.

  

 

Cognitive Disability

Mental retardation is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.

For more information: www.thearc.org

 

Deaf/Hard of Hearing

Impairments in hearing can happen in either frequency or intensity, or both. Hearing loss severity is based on how well a person can hear the frequencies or intensities most often associated with speech. Severity can be described as mild, moderate, severe, or profound. The term "deaf" is sometimes used to describe someone who has an approximately 90 dB or greater hearing loss or who cannot use hearing to process speech and language information, even with the use of hearing aids. The term "hard of hearing" is sometimes used to describe people who have a less severe hearing loss than deafness.

For more information: www.deafchildren.org

Books:  The Joy of Signing by Lottie L. Riekehof, Gospel Publishing House; Signing: How To Speak With Your Hands by Elaine Costello, Bantam Books.

 

 

Developmental Disabilities

Developmental disabilities are a diverse group of severe chronic conditions that are due to mental and/or physical impairments. People with developmental disabilities have problems with major life activities such as language, mobility, learning, self-help, and independent living. Developmental disabilities begin anytime during development up to 22 years of age and usually last throughout a person's lifetime.

For more information: www.dds.cahwnet.gov/general/info_about_dd.cfm

 

 

Down Syndrome

Down syndrome is usually caused by an error in cell division called non-disjunction. All people with Down syndrome have an extra, critical portion of the number 21 chromosome present in all, or some, of their cells. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with the syndrome.

For more information: www.downsyndromeinfo.org

Book: Babies With Down Syndrome: A New Parent's Guide, edited by Karen Stray-Gunderson, Woodbine House.

 

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a general term that includes various types of seizures. People with diagnosed epilepsy have had more than one seizure, and they may have had more than one kind of seizure. A seizure happens when abnormal electrical activity in the brain causes an involuntary change in body movement or function, sensation, awareness, or behavior.

For more information:  www.epilepsyfoundation.org/norcal/

 

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

FASD refers to the range of neurological impairments that can affect a child who has been exposed to alcohol in the womb. A number of factors, including how much the mother drank and at what point during the pregnancy, can influence the severity of the impairments and what functions they most affect. Children with FASD can display symptoms of ADHD, autism, Asperger syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, mental retardation and various psychiatric disorders, but will often not respond to traditional treatments for those disabilities.  

For more information:  www.nofas.org

 

Sensory Integration Dysfunction (DSI)

DSI is a neurological disability in which the brain is unable to accurately process the information coming in from the senses. Individuals may be oversensitive to some sensations, wildly overreacting to touch or movement or loss of balance; undersensitive to some sensations, needing crashing or banging or sharp sounds and flavors to register anything; or a combination of both. Sensory integration problems can affect the five traditional senses -- particularly touch and hearing, but also taste, sight and smell -- as well as two additional senses: the vestibular sense, which tells us where our body is in space, and the proprioceptive sense, which tells us what position our body is in. Children with DSI may appear hyperactive, oppositional, obsessive-compulsive, or attachment disordered, when in fact they are just reacting to and compensating for their unreliable and unpredictable view of the world.

For more information:   www.SInetwork.org

Books:  The Out-of-Sync Child and The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun by Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A., Berkley Publishing Group;  

 

Traumatic Brain Injury

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of a TBI may range from "mild," i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to "severe," i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury.

For more information: www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/TBI.htm

 

Additional General Resources

Websites:

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities: www.nichcy.org

Joni and Friends, the disability outreach of Joni Eareckson Tada:  www.joniandfriends.org

 

Books:

Exceptional Teaching by Jim Pierson, Standard Publishing