Let’s discuss disabilities as being sorted into three groups: physical, emotional, and physiological.

In your discussion post, choose one of these groups and profile a person (real or imagined) who has a disability from that group.

• Describe the disability. To which group(s) does it belong? What are its effects on the person you are profiling?
• Explain some of the challenges that this person has to overcome to function in everyday society.
• Remember to respond to two of your classmates’ initial posts with your own opinions and ideas.

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According to Koppelman, disability “refers to a restriction of functional ability and activity caused by an impairment” (2020). Today I will be profiling a person with an emotional disability.

Mikayla Thayer is a 24 year old female who suffers from severe anxiety. Anxiety is an emotional disability that manifests as excessive fear for a long duration. There are six types of anxiety disorders: separation anxiety, specific phobia, social anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. Mikayla has been diagnosed with social anxiety, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Mikayla faces several challenges daily. She gets anxious when she has to go to a new location, when she has to talk to new people, when she has an excessive amount of work, and when she doesn’t feel good. Although these are challenges everyone can face daily, Mikayla experiences those anxious feelings for a much longer duration, and can end up having a panic attack. She is fearful that those feelings will never go away and she has a difficult time getting her mind off of it. She is constantly worried. It is debilitating for Mikayla; so bad that she cancels plans with her friends, has resorted to not leaving her house, and sleeps all day because the anxiety exhausts her.

To overcome this disability, Mikayla has had to start seeing a therapist. Her therapist has her organize her thoughts in a notebook, plan out her day in a planner so she has something to keep her on schedule, and practice going to new places with people she trusts so she can overcome her anxiety. She does not want to take medication, so she is working hard at therapy and is continuing to following her therapists instructions.

References:

Koppelman, K. (2020). Understanding human differences: Multicultural education for a diverse America. (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ. Pearson Education.

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Zoe has struggled with back pain her entire life and has undergone multiple surgeries. Her physical disability is called Scheuermann’s Kyphosis and directly affects her posture and mobility. She is currently 67-years-old and if doctor’s had the ability to detect diseases like this when she was a child, Zoe would not have struggled with the pain that she has for so long. Zoe likes to spend time with her family and grandkids, but with the pain it is almost unbearable to be out of her house for too long. After one of her surgeries she became addicted to the painkiller morphine, using it to be able to perform daily tasks. In the years since then she has gone off the morphine and uses CBD to help the pain some. Very soon Zoe will undergo another large surgery with an expected recovery of one year. Now with the anxiety building, she is on Xanax and does not talk to many people about the surgery, still in some sort of denial about the surgery occurring. Zoe has been through a similar surgery in the past and is anticipating not only the weeks in the hospital but the year it will take her to recover