According to the World Health Organization (WHO), disability is a general term that encompasses impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. As it is an umbrella term, we want to help those reading this to understand in more detail the different types of disabilities.

Quoting the document we referenced at the beginning, we want to make it clear that in all of this (and in everything we do), we prioritize people. This article is not intended to label anyone; all individuals are diverse and deserve the same respect and inclusion as the person next to them. Nevertheless, we find it interesting to showcase the different realities that exist in this world, as sometimes we are so focused on our own that we forget to look around. Let's keep learning!

• Physical Disability: Physical disability is the type of disability that affects motor capacity. Individuals with a physical disability (which can result from genetic alterations, illnesses, accidents, among other factors) have reduced abilities to move or coordinate their movements.

  Examples: multiple sclerosis, paraplegia, tetraplegia, amputations, cystic fibrosis, spinal cord injuries, among others.

• Organic Disability: Physical disability is the type of disability that affects motor capacity. Individuals with a physical disability (which can result from genetic alterations, illnesses, accidents, among other factors) have reduced abilities to move or coordinate their movements.

  Examples: any type of cancer, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), diabetes, leukemia, lymphoma, hemophilia, among others.

• Psychic Disability: Psychic disability refers to impairments that affect the cognitive part of a person or result from mental health-related situations.
  • Intellectual Disability: This type of disability usually impacts cognitive development, learning, and the way individuals with it interact. Causes of intellectual disability can include problems during pregnancy (infections, alcohol consumption), issues during childbirth (lack of oxygen to the newborn, among others), or health problems (diseases like chickenpox, meningitis, or malnutrition).

    Examples: Down syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Williams syndrome, among others.

  • By Mental Illness: While mental illnesses can generally be treated and managed for individuals to overcome them, they can lead to significant changes (lack of autonomy, communication difficulties, or inability to perform various tasks) in affected individuals. Additionally, they can create irreversible problems that may be related to both intellectual and physical disabilities.

    Examples: depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more.

• Neurological Disability: Neurological disability refers to impairments that occur in the brain, often affecting movement, communication, or learning, among other functions.

  Examples: autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, meningitis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and more.

• Sensory Disability: Sensory disability is a type of disability that affects one or more of a person's five senses. While the most well-known are hearing impairment and visual impairment, there are also individuals with a lack of smell, touch, or taste. When there is a lack of more than one sense, it is referred to as multisensory disability.

  Multiple Disabilities: aMultiple disabilities refer to a severe condition of multiple impairments, meaning that more than one type of disability coexists in the same person.

• Rare Diseases: Rare diseases are not often considered disabilities. However, in many cases, these rare diseases lead to complications in communication, learning, or development. Therefore, we can discuss them in this guide. For a disease to be considered rare, it must occur in fewer than five people per 10,000 inhabitants.

  Example: As these diseases are not well-known (at least for those who don't experience them in their daily lives), we provide the “Report on the Registry of Rare Diseases in the Basque Country” (2022), where you can find a lot of information about the current situation of these conditions in the Basque Country.