Disability supplement
The purpose of the Disability
supplement is to provide additional information to assist with answering the
disability question.
If you indicated
the presence of a disability, impairment or long-term condition, please select
the area(s) in the following list:
Disability in
this context does not include short-term disabling health conditions such as a
fractured leg, influenza, or corrected physical conditions such as impaired
vision managed by wearing glasses or lenses.
‘11 —
Hearing/deaf’
Hearing
impairment is used to refer to a person who has an acquired mild, moderate,
severe or profound hearing loss after learning to speak, communicates orally
and maximises residual hearing with the assistance of amplification. A person
who is deaf has a severe or profound hearing loss from, at, or near birth and
mainly relies upon vision to communicate, whether through lip reading,
gestures, cued speech, finger spelling and/or sign language.
‘12 —
Physical’
A physical
disability affects the mobility or dexterity of a person and may include a
total or partial loss of a part of the body. A physical disability may have
existed since birth or may be the result of an accident, illness, or injury
suffered later in life; for example, amputation, arthritis, cerebral palsy,
multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, paraplegia, quadriplegia or post-polio
syndrome.
‘13 —
Intellectual’
In general,
the term ‘intellectual disability’ is used to refer to low general intellectual
functioning and difficulties in adaptive behaviour, both of which conditions
were manifested before the person reached the age of 18. It may result from
infection before or after birth, trauma during birth, or illness.
‘14 —
Learning’
A
general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by
significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking,
reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. These disorders are
intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous system
dysfunction, and may occur across the life span. Problems in self-regulatory
behaviours, social perception, and social interaction may exist with learning
disabilities but do not by themselves constitute a learning disability.
‘15 — Mental
illness’
Mental illness
refers to a cluster of psychological and physiological symptoms that cause a
person suffering or distress and which represent a departure from a person’s
usual pattern and level of functioning.
‘16 — Acquired brain impairment’
Acquired brain
impairment is injury to the brain that results in deterioration in cognitive,
physical, emotional or independent functioning. Acquired brain impairment can
occur as a result of trauma, hypoxia, infection, tumour, accidents, violence,
substance abuse, degenerative neurological diseases or stroke. These
impairments may be either temporary or permanent and cause partial or total
disability or psychosocial maladjustment.
‘17 — Vision’
This covers a
partial loss of sight causing difficulties in seeing, up to and including
blindness. This may be present from birth or acquired as a result of disease,
illness or injury.
‘18 — Medical
condition’
Medical
condition is a temporary or permanent condition that may be hereditary,
genetically acquired or of unknown origin. The condition may not be obvious or
readily identifiable, yet may be mildly or severely debilitating and result in
fluctuating levels of wellness and sickness, and/or periods of hospitalisation;
for example, HIV/AIDS, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, Crohn’s disease,
cystic fibrosis, asthma or diabetes.
‘19 — Other’
A disability,
impairment or long-term condition which is not suitably described by one or
several disability types in combination. Autism spectrum disorders are reported
under this category.