Motor disability

Motor disability may result from:

• invalidating diseases (polio, turbecolosis, etc.)
• accidents (war injuries, road accidents, etc.)
• complications during birth (cerebral palsy, etc.)
• genetic/congenital problems.

What do I need to know?

• Motor disability may be the sum of diverse impairments on a mental, sensorial and physical level.
• Medical, technical and human assistance can reduce the impact of the disability to a minimum.
• A person with a motor disability needs more power and concentration in order to control the movements of her/his body, as a result s/he might be exhausted sooner than other group members 3).

3) David Werner "Disabled village children", Publ. Hesperian Foundation, Berkeley, 1999 (2)

Whom should I talk to?

• first to the person him/herself
• parents, friends, teachers
• any professionals familiar with the diagnosis and the medical history: - physician - physiotherapists - ergotherapists
• Should the cause of the motor disability include a shock or trauma, a psychologist should also be consulted.

What should be avoided?

• People with diffuse neuro-muscular symptoms should not regularly participate in training as long as multiple sclerosis cannot be excluded as a diagnosis.
• Overstraining people with motor disability may cause pain and suffering and it may take several days for the muscles to recover. Too much stress may cause spasms.
• It is important to compensate the high loss of fluids caused by perspiration. A healthy person may recover better than someone whose physical strength is continually challenged by overcoming difficulties in motor movements in every day activities.