Over a billion people live with some form of disability. While this is not a comprehensive list of all diagnoses, this highlights some of the more common diagnoses.

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders cause people to feel excessively frightened, distressed, or uneasy during situations in which most other people would not experience these same feelings.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. A condition characterized by symptoms that include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. But not all these need to be present for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD.  ADHD can also include executive functioning delays as well as emotional dysregulation.

 Autism

Autism is a neurological disorder that affects a child’s ability to communicate, understand language, play and relate to others.

Bi-Polar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a chronic illness with recurring episodes of mania and depression that can last from one day to months. This mental illness causes unusual and dramatic shifts in mood, energy and the ability to think clearly.

Blindness/Visual Impairment

Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that cannot be corrected and includes both partial sight and blindness.

Central Auditory Processing Disorders (CAPD)

Central auditory processing disorders affect how the brain perceives and processes what the ear hears, adversely affecting the way the brain recognizes and interprets sounds, most notably the sounds composing speech.

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy, also known as CP, is a condition caused by injury to the parts of the brain that control our ability to use our muscles and bodies.

Deaf-Blindness

The word “deaf blindness” may seem as if a person cannot hear or see at all. The term describes a person who has some degree of loss in both vision and hearing.

Deafness and Hearing Loss

Hearing is one of our five senses. Hearing loss is generally described as slight, mild, moderate, severe, and can affect one or both ears.

Depression Disorder

Depression Disorder beyond temporarily feeling sad or blue. It is a serious medical illness that affects one’s thoughts, feelings, behavior, mood, and physical health.

Developmental Delay

A developmental delay (DD) means that an individual has not reached the same milestones as their non-disabled peers.  A delay can happen in just one area of development or a few. A global delay is when there are delays in at least two areas.

Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 and sometimes referred to as trisomy 21.  This can cause both mental and physical challenges for the individual.

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder. A seizure happens when a brief, strong surge of electrical activity affects part or all of the brain.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

“Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders” (FASD) is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of conditions resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability (I/D) is a term used when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and in skills such as communicating, taking care of him or herself and social skills.

Learning Disabilities

Includes, but not limited to, dyslexia, dyscalcula, and dysgraphia. Learning disability is a general term that describes specific kinds of learning differences. The skills most often affected are reading, writing, listening, speaking, reasoning, and doing math.

Neurological Impairment

A neurological impairment is any disorder of the body’s nervous system. Structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord or other nerves can result in a range of symptoms.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)

Sensory Processing Disorder is a neurological condition that exists when sensory signals don’t get organized into appropriate responses and prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly.

Spina Bifida

Spina Bifida is one of the most common birth defects in the United States, that happens during the first month or so of pregnancy and means that the baby’s spine did not close completely. Damage to the nerves and the spinal cord may result.

Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder characterized by tics (involuntary, rapid, sudden movements) and/or vocal outbursts that occur repeatedly.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI, is an injury that affects how the brain works and can lead to physical and/or cognitive difficulties.