Disability Support Services

What is a Disability?

A disability under the law is any "physical or mental impairment that substantially impairs or restricts one or more major life activities such as: caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning and working." The disability may be permanent or temporary.

 Examples of impairments are:

• Speech hearing, visual and orthopedic impairments
• Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy
• Multiple sclerosis, cancer, diabetes
• Emotional illness
• Specific learning disabilities, such as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, and developmental aphasia
• Alcoholism and drug addiction (in treatment)

Common Disabilities and Accommodations