For purposes of administering services and accommodations to students with disabilities, the Office of Disability Services categorizes disabilities into five areas: learning, physical, medical, psychiatric, and ADHD. Please keep in mind that these descriptions are not intended to be all-encompassing or universal but rather to provide consistency and continuity in the delivery of services. Descriptions of disabilities are as follows:

Learning Disability A learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations. The term includes, but is not limited to, conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Physical Disability A physical disability is any physiological disorder or condition, anatomical loss or cosmetic disfigurement affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological, musculoskeletal, respiratory (including speech organs), special sense organs, cardiovascular, digestive, genitor-urinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin and endocrine.

Medical Disability The range of disabilities in this category is large and includes chronic health impairments, such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancers, AIDS, hemophilia, epilepsy, and hepatitis, among others.

Psychiatric Disability Mental illness is a term that describes a broad range of mental and emotional conditions. The term psychiatric disability is used when mental illness significantly interferes with the performance of major life activities such as learning, thinking, and communicating, among others. The most common forms of mental illnesses are anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and schizophrenia.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) A diagnosis of ADHD is based on the number, persistence, and history of ADHD behaviors, and the degree to which they impede a person’s performance in more than one setting. ADHD diagnosis can include predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type, the predominantly inattentive type, and the combined type.