WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY?

INSIGHTS FROM THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION

Physical therapy clinics, often like fitness gymnasiums, are designed for a wide range of exercises, manual therapy, mechanical devices, and stations for heat, cold, electricity, sound waves, and radiation treatment.

PTs also can help a person adjust to using a prosthesis or assistive mobility device.

The goal is to minimize loss of mobility via specific treatment, fitness and wellness programs tailored to the person’s condition, age, goals, etc.

People with physical disabilities also benefit from an occupational therapist.

This is similar, but instead of a fitness center, the clinic is set up like a workplace – an office, industrial or other setting.

OTs retrain people with physical disabilities to return to their jobs via new approaches to doing physical labor or with assistive devices.

OTs also train people with physical disabilities for an entirely new career, should their disability preclude their reassuming their prior job duties.

Many of United Spinal Association’s Rehabilitation & Therapeutic members provide PT, OT, and other invaluable services for people with physical disabilities.

WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY?

INSIGHTS FROM THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION

People with physical disabilities are served by dozens of nationwide nonprofit advocacy groups that raise funds for research, treatment, adaptive equipment, mobility devices, job training, educational opportunities, quality of life, political advocacy and other efforts that champion inclusion in all aspects of daily life.

Longstanding nonprofits include, but are not limited to, United Spinal Association, United Cerebral Palsy, Arthritis Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Epilepsy Foundation and Spina Bifida Foundation.

Most people with physical disabilities can benefit from a licensed physical therapist.

Hospitals have in-patient physical therapy for people recovering from surgery or treatment.

Outpatient physical therapy clinics have significantly grown in the 21st century.

A physician usually writes a prescription, and the PT analyzes X-rays and medical reports.

The physician then interviews the person while creating a course of treatment.

WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY?

INSIGHTS FROM THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION

Even with the boost in work-from-home technology during the COVID pandemic, people with physical disabilities were pushed into jobs below their ability, less than full-time work or unemployment – at numbers far lower than people who do not have a disability.

This leads to poverty or barely enough income to pay for accessible housing, transportation, health care, personal care and food.

Adults with physical disabilities report experiencing frequent mental distress almost five times as often as adults without disabilities, as researched and reported by the CDC.

A CDC study found that about one-third of adults with physical disabilities experienced frequent mental distress, defined as 14 or more reported mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days.

During the COVID pandemic, mental health issues rose in the disability community.

Isolation, a reduction in PCA availability, and having an underlying condition that made the impact of COVID more dangerous contributed to depression, anxiety, and other issues.

Prevalent causes of mental health distress among people with physical disabilities include poor access to health care, isolation from the community, and poverty. Peer support groups may help break down isolation.

WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY?

INSIGHTS FROM THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION

United Spinal Association has focused on the quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries/disorders for over 75 years. The association advocates for all wheelchair users and those using assistive mobility devices – no matter the underlying cause.

Rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and related inflammatory conditions are the most common physical disabilities resulting from a medical condition post-birth.

Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability from childbirth.

Spinal cord injury is the most common physical disability resulting from traumatic injury, though some SCIs can result from a medical condition.

More than one in four people (27%) have some level of disability that impacts their daily lives, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

This includes physical, visual, hearing and cognitive disabilities. 

That means there are roughly 90 million people in the United States who have a disability.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates that at least 7% of Americans have a physical disability. 

U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics prove that people with physical disabilities are by far the most under- and unemployed of all marginalized groups in America.

WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY?

INSIGHTS FROM THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION

Many people with physical disabilities benefit from personal care attendants. 

These trained professionals are not nurses but are skilled at helping with daily routines to prepare for work, meals, recreation, and sleep.

Also, since the passage of civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, adaptations to transit, transportation, sidewalks, parks, education centers, workplaces, shopping centers and the arts can make them accessible to people with disabilities.

Examples of physical disabilities

Physical disability is often the result of a medical condition, such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis or epilepsy.

Some disabilities are present at birth, such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and partially formed/not fully functional limb or extremity.

Physical disability also can result from an injury, such as loss/reduction of use of a limb or spinal cord injury.

WHAT IS A PHYSICAL DISABILITY?

INSIGHTS FROM THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION

Physical disability is defined as a limitation on a person’s physical functioning, mobility, dexterity or stamina.

Although a physical disability substantially impacts an individual’s ability to do normal daily activities, it does not preclude quality of life.

Many people with physical disabilities are employed, go to school, raise families and engage in other meaningful activities.

Physical disability can impact a person’s ability to bathe, dress, prepare meals, do chores and other daily activities.

It can affect speech and communication.

But with proper support and services, a person with a physical disability’s life is as meaningful as anyone else’s.

The use of durable medical equipment, such as shower benches, grab bars, and wheelchairs, can mitigate physical disability.

Smart technologies that allow appliances to be operated by voice have increased the ability of people with physical disabilities to control their environment.

And a whole host of assistive technology exists to support people with physical disabilities in leading rich and fulfilling lives.

CRAZY CAT LADY

AND DAMN PROUD OF IT

by Heidi Johnson-Wright 
(from the EarthBound TomBoy files)

A multi-level tower greets those who come through my door.  Toys made of foil or fluff are strewn across my floor.

You might call me a crazy cat lady.

I suppose I am one. And a bit of a novice, too. While I’ve loved animals my whole life, I was certain I was a dog person. Until two fuzzy feline sweethearts came into my life three years ago. Two kitties -- a mother and daughter – who lived on the streets and needed a human mommy.

It didn’t happen overnight. There were many days when I admired them from afar. 

Then my husband and I tendered some kitty treats, and a bond began to form. 

We weren’t certain if either of us had allergies. So we started out with the rule that we wouldn’t allow them in the house beyond the front room. Then the rule quickly changed to “in the house but not in the bedrooms.” That rule didn’t last long, either.

Now three years in, the only forbidden zones are the cupboards containing household cleaners and the stove top. (OK, the inside of the refrigerator is off limits, too.)

So why the change? How did I become someone who never imagined being a cat mommy to a woman who does hours of online research to find the best cat harness?

Perhaps it links back to my disability. I developed severe rheumatoid arthritis back in grade school. The disease quickly became a juggernaut of severe joint pain and destruction. It has since resulted in two dozen major orthopedic surgeries, followed by months of torturous rehabilitation.

Do you know what it’s like to spend months on your back – your body aching from constantly maintaining the same position -- forbidden to enjoy the simple luxury of rolling onto your side?  

I do. I know what it feels like to lay in a pool of my own sweat collected under my lower back, unable to get air against my skin to evaporate the moisture.

It may sound like a small thing, something you could simply distract yourself from noticing. I assure you it is not. Because when your whole world consists of you in a hospital bed, you literally ache for the simple pleasures we often take for granted.

And I remember all of it: every miserable detail, even the sleepless nights from 40 years ago. Nights and days when I thought: “If only I could roll over for five minutes. If only I could lie on soft sheets. If only I could have a few moments of relief from these aches that never end.”

Perhaps that’s why – if you visit my home – you’ll see comfy cushions and baby blankets throughout my house and soft dish drying pads lying around my patio. I understand such things may label me a crazy cat lady. I proudly cop to that label. 

But don’t forget there’s more to the story. That cushions and blankets and pads symbolize a reduction in suffering. The reduction in suffering that tantalized but evaded a frightened young girl in a hospital bed. The reduction in suffering that I am determined to provide to my fur angels.

Am I a crazy cat lady? You’re goddamn right I am. 

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/ 

 

DISABILITIES, BAD ATTITUDES...

...AND MENTAL FLIGHTS OF FANCY

By Heidi Johnson-Wright/The EarthBound Tomboy

I try to live my life by a few simple maxims:

“Strive for balance in all things.”

“Never eat more than you can lift.”

“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”

It took me years to see the wisdom in that last one. I mean, severe pain and joint damage of rheumatoid arthritis – my particular challenge – are pretty darn dramatic. Having shoulders, hips and knees severed from me and new ones bolted in have proven to be a bit of a distraction.

But I think I’ve finally seen the light and rehabilitated my attitude.

Now when I go to a new restaurant and all of the tables are high with bar stools, I focus on my attitude. Even though I spend the meal staring into my companions’ knees, I mentally try to levitate. That doesn’t actually allow me to socialize with my friends or even hear much of the conversation, but it cleans out all of the “badness” in my mind.

My rehabilitation also comes in handy when I’m traveling and need to catch a taxi. Whether I attempt a street hail or try to schedule a ride by phone, getting a wheelchair-accessible taxi is next to impossible. But that’s OK. Although my trip then requires numerous buses and is four times longer than a cab ride, I’m zipping along through traffic – only in my mind, of course.

If I stay in a hotel or at a relative’s home and there’s no wheelchair-accessible roll-in shower, no problem. As I take my sponge bath at the sink, I imagine myself under a luxurious rain-style shower head. Ah, the lovely flowing water…

You see, I’ve come to realize that being marginalized from society happens not because humankind continues to build restaurants, malls, theaters, offices, transportation and housing with physical barriers. Oh, no. The problem lies within the mind of each and every person with a disability. Fix the attitude and you’ve fixed the problem.

Excuse me -- must run. I need to adjust my attitude up a flight of stairs now.

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/