What Does Disability Include?

What does “disability” include?

There are many different kinds of disability and activity limitations. These can result from accidents, illness or genetic disorders and can affect people’s ability to participate in work, family and society.

Most disability is invisible such as mental illness; some disability such as deafness is not immediately apparent; and some disability is episodic, only affecting the person when they are unwell but recurring over their life.

Focus on capability rather than disability

Independent studies demonstrate that people with disability have a positive work attitude and work ethos. Employing capable staff for our roles is good for business because a diverse workforce helps to make us more productive. It also enables people with disability to fulfil their potential and contribute to our success.

World Health Organisation definition

The World Health Organisation describes disability as, “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions”. It may include a problem in a person’s body function or structure; difficulty executing a task or action; and/or problems participating in life situations such as family, community, work or recreation.

It is a complex phenomenon which reflects the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. For example, people with disability may experience barriers in the workplace which prevent or make it difficult for them to do their job. Overcoming the difficulties faced by people with disability requires interventions to remove environmental and social barriers.

Examples of disability

Examples of disability covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) include:

·  Physical

·  Intellectual

·  Psychiatric

·  Vision (not corrected by glasses or contact lens)

·  Hearing impairment

·  Speech

·  Neurological e.g. epilepsy, stroke

·  Learning

·  Autism Spectrum Disorder or Aspergers

·  Physical disfigurement

Contact the Disability Employment Leader

Telephone: 02 8644 2232

Email:

People who are deaf or have a speech or hearing impairment can call the National Relay Service and then ask for the above telephone number.

·  TTY Users phone 133 677

·  Speak and listen users phone 1300 555 727

·  Internet relay users connect to the NRS (see www.relayservice.com.au for details)