Disability is not one thing. Different disabilities create different needs, access requirements, and community cultures. This section provides resources organized by disability type, recognizing that lived experience guides what information matters most.
This section avoids a medical model "disorder of the week" approach. Instead, each page centers the perspectives, strategies, and community knowledge of people with that disability. We include both medical information (when relevant) and disability justice perspectives.
Pages are organized by how people think about their disability, not by medical classification. This recognizes that disability identity matters, that some people identify with their diagnosis and others don't, and that categorization itself can be limiting.
Disabilities affecting mobility and physical function: mobility impairment, amputation, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, joint and connective tissue conditions, and others.
Disabilities affecting perception: blindness/low vision, Deafness, DeafBlindness, hearing loss, tinnitus, olfactory and gustatory disabilities.
Ongoing health conditions: autoimmune conditions, EDS, POTS, ME/CFS, Long COVID, chronic pain conditions, and others.
Neurological differences often present from birth or early development: Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette Syndrome, learning disabilities.
Disability affecting cognitive development and functioning. Centers self-advocate voices and supported decision-making.
Psychiatric disabilities: depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychosis, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and others.
Disabilities not visible to others, including pain, fatigue, sensory processing, cognitive disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities.
Navigating multiple disabilities simultaneously. Unique challenges, strategies, and community.
Low-prevalence disabilities and diseases. Finding community, accessing specialists, research participation.
Intellectual & Developmental Disability →
Psychiatric & Psychosocial Disability →
Physical disabilities affect mobility and physical function. Include:
Mobility impairments: Difficulty moving limbs or whole body
Amputations: Loss of limb or part of limb
Muscle-related: Muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, cerebral palsy
Joint/connective tissue: EDS, arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia
Other: Tremor, paralysis, weakness
Strategies for physical disabilities include:
Sensory disabilities affect perception:
Vision-related:
Hearing-related:
Other sensory:
DeafBlindness: Combined deafness and blindness
Sensory disabled communities are strong and culturally vibrant. Deaf culture is particularly rich with its own language, values, and communities.
Chronic illness is ongoing, often fluctuating health conditions:
Autoimmune conditions: When immune system attacks body
ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome):
POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome):
Chronic pain conditions:
Long COVID:
EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome):
Chronic illness is unpredictable. Strategies include pacing, rest, symptom management, and accepting fluctuation.
Neurodivergent people think differently. Not better or worse, just different. Includes:
Autism:
ADHD:
Dyslexia:
Dyspraxia:
Tourette Syndrome:
Learning disabilities:
Neurodiversity is normal human variation. Neurodivergent people bring unique perspectives and strengths.
Intellectual disability involves challenges with cognitive development and functioning. Developmental disability refers to disabilities emerging during development.
Self-advocacy:
Supported decision-making:
Inclusion and community integration:
Self-determination:
Psychiatric disabilities include:
Major depression:
Bipolar disorder:
Schizophrenia and psychosis:
PTSD and trauma:
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder):
Anxiety disorders:
Substance use disorders:
Psychiatric disabilities are real disabilities. Mental health is health. Recovery doesn't mean becoming "normal"—it means managing symptoms and building a good life.
Invisible disabilities aren't visible to others. Include:
Challenges of invisible disability:
Invisible doesn't mean less real or less disabling. Visibility has nothing to do with validity.
Many people have more than one disability. Combinations create unique challenges:
Multiply-disabled people often have unique insights and resilience.
Rare disabilities present unique challenges:
Strategies:
Condition-specific communities exist for almost every disability. Finding your people can be powerful:
Not all communities are healthy. Look for communities that:
Have you navigated a specific disability? Know about community resources? Have strategies to share?
We welcome contributions from people with lived experience of these conditions, especially from communities underrepresented in mainstream disability resources.
Last updated: [Date]
Maintained by: DisabilityWiki Conditions Team
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