Look around you. The entrance to your house or to a public building, the streets, public transport such as buses and subways… all this has been thought out for a majority of the population who are able to move around , perceive and interact with the environment in a normative way.

However, there is a part of the citizenry that, for various reasons, does not have the same capacities, and its options are reduced. This part corresponds to those who suffer from some kind of physical, mental or sensory disability. Disability is a barrier for many people, who see their lives limited.

In the case of physical disability these barriers are sometimes literal, with freedom of movement being highly restricted. That is why exploring the different types of physical disability can be a way of understanding the needs of the people who present them and of making it easier to adapt to the environment.

Impairment and disability: distinguishing between concepts

There is a wide diversity in the capacities and abilities of the different individuals who make up society. We can be taller or shorter, have light or brown eyes or skin of different colour. There are also people with more artistic sensitivity than others, or with greater mathematical abilities.

Some people see very well at a long distance while others have a much more developed sense of hearing than others. These differences between us do not prevent us from enjoying a more or less similar life, having or should have the same opportunities to develop ourselves and seek the happiness of others and ourselves while we measure up and participate in the world.

However, for some people this is much more complicated due to the existence of some deficiency. Some of them present a physical or psychological configuration different from the usual , with a part of them affected or not functioning to the same degree as that which is habitual in the individual himself or herself, or in relation to the rest.

These impairments may cause the subject who suffers them to suffer a disability, if the characteristics of his or her condition limit or prevent the person from carrying out one or more of his or her daily activities in a normative manner. This does not mean that they cannot do the same things, but it does mean that they will need support or access that takes into account their difficulties.

Thus, while the impairment is that organ or aspect that does not function correctly, the disability is that which cannot or costs more to do due to this malfunction . In this case, the physical disability, the functionality affected, is movement.

Concept of physical disability

We understand physical disability as a situation or state in which a circumstance occurs that makes it impossible or difficult for the person who suffers it to move freely and in a way that is fully functional. This type of disability affects the locomotive system, being especially visible in the case of the extremities, although it can affect the skeletal muscles in such a way that they cannot be moved voluntarily.

The limitations present in people with physical disabilities therefore make it really difficult for them to lead a normal life unless they enjoy certain external aids. These limitations may be permanent or temporary, depending on whether the impairment that causes them is treated, or sufficient aid is provided so that there is no reduction in functionality.

Most frequent causes

There are a variety of reasons why a person may have a physical disability. However, as a general rule, we can consider that the impairments that cause the disability are usually due to a problem or damage to either the muscles or the nervous system (either at the level of the nerves that innervate the areas in question, the spinal cord or somewhere in the motor cortex).

Some of the causes of these injuries can be found in the suffering of diseases such as multiple sclerosis, tumours, infections or inflammations of muscle or nerve tissues or trauma of different types. Some congenital malformations, such as spina bifida, also cause physical disability.

Classification of physical disability

As we have said, the reasons why a person may have a physical disability are many and varied. When classifying the different types of physical disability, these causes are usually taken into account, as well as the areas that have impeded or limited movement or their causes.

Thus, we can find that generally the types of physical disability will be the following .

Types by cause

  • Motor skills with or without brain involvement
  • Due to illness
  • Mixed

Types according to affected area

  • Motor disability of the lower extremities
  • Motor disability of the upper extremities, trunk, neck and face
  • Other motor disabilities

Some of the main types of physical disability

Understanding the subject, the different classes of disability or physical handicap are the following .

1. Monoplegia

Paralysis of a single limb , usually caused by damage to the nerve that innervates the area in question.

2. Paraplegia

This condition due to a spinal cord injury in the dorsal area involves paralysis or inability to move the lower half of the body. It basically affects legs and feet . The subject loses the ability to walk. It may or may not affect the capacity for sexual response.

3. Tetraplegia

Alteration due to a cervical spinal cord injury whose impact is observed in the total loss of movement of the lower limbs and in the total or partial loss of movement of the upper limbs .

Depending on the position of the injury, the difficulties will be greater or lesser, generally implying greater affectation and associated disability for those vertebrae closest to the skull. In fact, it may lead to the need to use artificial ventilators in order to maintain the patient’s breathing.

4. Hemiplegia

It is an alteration or injury in the nervous system that produces the paralysis of the opposite or contralateral part of the damaged one . It is usually due to strokes or head injuries.

4. Spina bifida

This is a type of congenital malformation in which the neural tube and the spinal cord do not close completely during the formation of the fetus, resulting in nerve and spinal cord damage that may prevent or hinder the person’s movement .

5. Muscular dystrophy

The group of disorders included in muscular dystrophy cause the presence of weak muscle tone that loses tissue over time , making movement difficult and causing disability. This is one of the most frequent types of physical disability.

6. Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy is a chronic medical condition due to problems during the brain development of the fetus or child, which produces serious effects on motor skills . These effects can range from difficulty and slowness of movement, stiffness, agitation, seizures or even complete paralysis of voluntary muscles.

7. Amputation

The loss of limbs or body parts can cause physical disability by limiting the person’s usual functioning .