Diabetes and Persons with Disabilities

There are many persons with disabilities

International Persons with Disabilities Day is on December 3, 2022 this year and has been as of 1992. At this time, a lot of people around the world have a form of disability which makes it important to talk about it.

  • More than 1 billion people in the world have some form of disability.
  • More than 100 million disabled persons are children.
  • 50% of disabled persons cannot afford health care.

These statistics come from the UN. Also, around 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries. However, not all disabilities are clearly identifiable. For this reason, It is important to know which ones are visible and non-visible.

Visible and Non-Visible Disabilities 

Persons with visible disabilities can be identified by looking at them and some examples of visible disabilities include:

  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Down Syndrome
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Tourette Syndrome
  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Persons who have non-visible disabilities affect how they perceive the world, act, or interact with the world. It also affects their abilities to do daily tasks such as school, work and other tasks. Some examples include:

  • Diabetes
  • Depression
  • ADD
  • ADHD
  • Aspergers

Persons with visible or non-visible disabilities struggle throughout their lives. For that reason, it is important to address challenges they face.

Challenges faced by persons with disabilities

At the present time, persons with disabilities are considered to be “the world’s largest minority“. Since most of these people live in developing countries, they may not have access to resources or opportunities. Also, they may face negative societal attitudes regarding their disabilities. As a result, children with disabilities and adults with mental health issues are four times more likely to face violence. Not to mention the barrier they may face with employment or receiving assistance. So, we will now focus on disabilities related to diabetes.

Disabilities associated with diabetes

At this time, 1 in 6 persons with disabilities in the United States have been diagnosed with a form of diabetes. Because of diabetes it can lead to further complications such as: 

As shown above, untreated diabetes can lead to many complications and result in other disabilities such as loss of vision or amputation. That is why it is important to know how to address these complications. 

Ways to address disabilities associated with diabetes

Firstly, it is important to make proper lifestyle changes such as improving your diet and adding adapted exercises if possible to your weekly routine. Even though we are in the middle of the holiday season, these tips can help and can still be useful at any time during the year. Also it is important to see your doctor regularly to discuss how to treat your diabetes symptoms and to watch for any worrying symptoms such as changes in vision or numbness or tingling and to tell your doctor right away to prevent any further complications. Seeing that diabetes can lead to further issues, it is important to help spread awareness regarding these symptoms and issues. 

How you can help bring awareness 

Seeing that November is Diabetes Awareness Month, you can continue to educate yourself regarding diabetes and other disabilities and also share this blog as well as other information to help spread awareness. In order to reduce the stigma and violence surrounding disabilities we need to educate ourselves as well as share information to others regarding visible and non-visible disabilities. 

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