Coping Towards Disability

A disability is any continuing condition that restricts everyday activities. The Disability Services Act (1993) defines ‘disability' as meaning a disability: which is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairment or a combination of those impairments. Physical, mental, and social disability are defined. A socio medical scheme for disability research is presented. How physical and social disability is measured in general health surveys and in arthritis research is described and evaluated. Disability is an important public health problem especially in developing countries like India. The problem will increase in future because of increase in trend of non-communicable diseases and change in age structure with an increase in life expectancy. The issues are different in developed and developing countries, and rehabilitation measures should be targeted according the needs of the disabled with community participation. In India, a majority of the disabled resides in rural areas where accessibility, availability, and utilization of rehabilitation services and its cost-effectiveness are the major issues to be considered. Research on disability burden, appropriate intervention strategies and their implementation to the present context in India is a big challenge. Recent data was collected from Medline and various other sources and analyzed. The present research was initiated to study the status of awareness and utilization of the educational schemes for children with disability in the rural areas of Dharmapuri District, Tamilnadu.