Physical disabilities
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Follow the links below to find trusted information about physical disabilities.
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Last reviewed: April 2020
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Physical disability & parenting | Raising Children Network
If you’re parenting with a physical disability, you and your children are probably very good at finding creative ways to overcome everyday challenges.
Read more on raisingchildren.net.au website
Facts about cerebral palsy | Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation
Download the Fact Sheets Key Facts Every 15 hours, an Australian child is born with cerebral palsy. It is the most common physical disability in childhood. Cerebral palsy is an...
Read more on Cerebral Palsy Alliance website
Rett syndrome: signs, diagnosis, support | Raising Children Network
Rett syndrome is a genetic disorder that causes intellectual and physical disability. Early intervention can improve outcomes for children with Rett syndrome.
Read more on raisingchildren.net.au website
Video series & Podcasts Early Diagnosis of cerebral palsy | Cerebral Palsy Alliance
Cerebral Palsy Alliance is a non-profit that provides services to thousands of people with a disability and their families. Cerebral palsy (CP) is a physical disability that affects the way that a person moves.
Read more on Cerebral Palsy Alliance website
Cerebral palsy | Cerebral Palsy Alliance
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a physical disability that affects movement and posture. It is a permanent life-long condition, but generally does not worsen over time.
Read more on Cerebral Palsy Alliance website
To communicate | Novita
What is communication? Everybody communicates every day, in lots of different ways
Read more on Novita Children's Services website
Back Care - Looking after your back - for parents and carers | Sydney Children's Hospitals Network
Children with a physical disability may need physical assistance from parents and carers for their daily care
Read more on Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is a physical disability caused by damage to the brain before, during, or soon after birth.
Read more on Pregnancy, Birth & Baby website
Intellectual Disability | Novita
Intellectual disability is the most commonly recorded disability, occurring in about 3% of the population in Australia
Read more on Novita Children's Services website
Disability groups and networks - Better Health Channel
Connecting with other people who have a disability and their families can be a good way of getting informal advice and support.
Read more on Better Health Channel website
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Prescribing psychotropic drugs to adults with an intellectual disability | Issue 4 | Volume 39 | Australian Prescriber
Mental illness is common in people with intellectual disability. They may also have physical health problems which can affect their mental state.
Read more on Australian Prescriber website
Menstrual issues for women with intellectual disability | Issue 2 | Volume 39 | Australian Prescriber
The approach to menstrual management in girls with intellectual disabilities should be the same as it is for other girls.
Read more on Australian Prescriber website
Multidisciplinary treatment for back pain | Cochrane
Authors' conclusions: Patients with chronic LBP receiving MBR are likely to experience less pain and disability than those receiving usual care or a physical treatment
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
The NDIS | For Participants and Healthcare Professionals
This article is intended to help healthcare professionals and people living with a disability to understand, access and navigate The National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Read more on Ausmed Education website
Surgical versus non-surgical treatment for lumbar spinal stenosis | Cochrane
Authors' conclusions: We have very little confidence to conclude whether surgical treatment or a conservative approach is better for lumbar spinal stenosis, and we can provide no new recommendations to guide clinical practice
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Delirium Awareness and Cognitive Impairment | Ausmed
Cognitive impairment is a term used to describe someone’s current state. It generally presents as a state of confusion, loss of memory or attentiveness, trouble understanding or making sense, difficulty recognising people, places or things, or changes to mood.
Read more on Ausmed Education website
Aquatic exercise for people with osteoarthritis in the knee or hip | Cochrane
Authors' conclusions: There is moderate quality evidence that aquatic exercise may have small, short-term, and clinically relevant effects on patient-reported pain, disability, and QoL in people with knee and hip OA
Read more on Cochrane (Australasian Centre) website
Exercise and Improving Your Mental Wellbeing
It's a widely held view that exercise can improve mood and overall wellbeing, but what does the literature say? Cooney et al. (2013) completed a systematic review concluding that exercise was more effective in comparison to no treatment, or a comparator controlled intervention. Some say otherwise...
Read more on Ausmed Education website
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Drinking alcohol prior to conception and during pregnancy can have significant adverse outcomes for the fetus. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD) are known to be associated with persistent physical and neurodevelopmental abnormalities (Vaux et al. 2016).
Read more on Ausmed Education website
Ways to Progress Any Rehabilitation Exercise
I will never forget my first geriatric clinical affiliation as a physio student. I was training at a skilled nursing facility and there was one therapist working the entire department. She would arrive in the morning, sit down on a rolling stool and (being a tad hyperbolic, here) never rise again.
Read more on Ausmed Education website
