GET INFORMED ABOUT "OTHER HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS"- THE DANGEROUS CATEGORY OF DISABILITY:

By definition, "Other health impairments" (OHI) is a disability category included in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Other health impairment means having a disability caused by disease, condition, disorder, or injury that substantially affects strength, vitality, or alertness. To be identified with other health impairment, the student's condition must cause a substantial impact on his educational performance. This means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that result in limited alertness with respect to the education environment. A student with attention deficit disorder, for example, who is distracted by the everyday classroom environment and who cannot pay attention may be diagnosed with other health impairment if the problem is severe enough to affect his learning.

Causes of Other Health Impairments

Other Health Impairments can be results of side-effects due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell, anemia and tourette syndrome, and that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The following bellow are explanations these causes.

Epilepsy

According to the Epilepsy Foundation of America, epilepsy is a physical condition that occurs when there is a sudden, brief change in how the brain works. When brain cells are not working properly, a person’s consciousness, movement, or actions may be altered for a short time. These physical changes are called epileptic seizures. Epilepsy affects people in all nations and of all races.

Symptoms include: “blackouts” or periods of confused memory; episodes of staring or unexplained unresponsiveness; involuntary movement of arms and legs; fainting spells with incontinence or followed by excessive fatigue; or odd sounds, distorted perceptions, and feelings of fear that cannot be explained.

Hemophilia

A child with hemophilia problem

Hemophilia is a rare, inherited disorder in which your blood does not clot properly. As a result, people with hemophilia may bleed after an injury for a longer time than those without the disorder. It is a myth that persons with hemophilia bleed to death from even minor injuries. In truth, the condition ranges mild to severe. Symptoms include: excessive bleeding, excessive bruising, easy bleeding, nose bleeds, and abnormal menstrual bleeding. Bleeding can also be internal, especially in the knees, ankles, and elbows. With very few exceptions, this disorder usually occurs only in males.

Lead poisoning

A child being affected by lead poisoning

Lead can build up in the body over a period of months or years. Even a small amount of lead in the body can cause serious problems—hence, the term lead poisoning. Being exposed to lead-based paint or paint dust is the most common avenue to lead poisoning. Children under the age of six are especially vulnerable, because their mental and physical abilities are still developing. Signs of lead poisoning are rather nonspecific, sometimes making diagnosis more difficult. Symptoms include: irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, sluggishness, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, unusual paleness from anemia, and learning difficulties.

Leukemia

Normally, the bone marrow in our bodies produces white blood cells to defend against infections. Leukemia develops when the marrow produces too many white blood cells and what’s produced are abnormal. Leukemia is considered a cancer of the bone marrow and blood. There are four types. According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the most common type in children under 19 years of age is Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL).

Symptoms of ALL include: tiredness or no energy, shortness of breath during physical activity, pale skin, mild fever or night sweats, slow healing of cuts and excess bleeding, black-and-blue marks (bruises) for no clear reason, pinhead-size red spots under the skin, aches in bones or joints (for example, knees, hips or shoulders), and low white cell counts. A child showing any such symptoms should visit a healthcare professional for examination, to identify the cause.

Nephritis

 Nephritis means that one or both of a person's kidneys are inflamed. The kidneys are very important organs in the body, because they clean the blood by filtering out excess water, salt, and waste products from the food we eat. Nephritis may be due to infection, but it’s more commonly associated with autoimmune disorders that affect the major organs of the body. Individuals with lupus, for example, are at much higher risk for developing nephritis.

Rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever can develop as a complication of untreated or poorly treated strep throat or scarlet fever. Symptoms include: fever; pain in one joint that moves to another joint; red, hot, or swollen joints; small, painless nodules beneath the skin; rapid, fluttering, or pounding heartbeats (palpitations); shortness of breath; a painless rash with a ragged edge; jerky, uncontrollable body movements, most often in the hands, feet, and face; and unusual behavior, such as crying or inappropriate laughing.

It is very important to treat rheumatic fever, because it can cause permanent damage to the heart, especially the valves. Diagnosing the condition usually involves a physical exam by the doctor, who will look for signs of tender or swollen joints, the tell-tale rash, and abnormal heart rhythm.

Typically, the doctor will also do a blood test for strep throat. Antibiotics are the usual treatment for rheumatic fever, to eliminate the strep bacteria from the system. It’s not unusual for a person to take low-dose antibiotics continually for years (especially the first 3 -5 years after the first episode) to prevent rheumatic fever from coming back.

Sickle cell anemia

Children with sickle cell problems

Anemia, in general, is a condition where an individual’s blood has less than a normal number of red blood cells or the red blood cells themselves don’t have enough hemoglobin (which carries oxygen throughout the body). Sickle cell anemia is one type of anemia where the hemoglobin is abnormal and the red blood cells often become shaped like the letter C, making them sickle-shaped (like a crescent). This shape makes it hard for the red blood cells to pass through small blood vessels, causing pain and damaging organs. Symptoms include chronic anemia and periodic episodes of pain (in the arms, legs, chest, and abdomen).

Tourette syndrome

A person characterized by tourette problems

Tourette syndrome is a disorder characterized by tics (involuntary, rapid, sudden movements) and/ or vocal outbursts that occur repeatedly. The tics can range from simple (e.g., rapid eye-blinking, facial grimacing, shoulder-shrugging) to complex (involving several muscle groups, such as hopping, bending, or twisting). Vocalizations can also range from simple (throat-clearing, sniffing, grunting) to complex (involving words or phrases).

Tourette syndrome is an inherited disorder that is first noticed in childhood, usually between the ages of 7 and 10. The syndrome occurs in boys four times more than in girls. It is estimated that 2% of the world population has Tourette syndrome. This may be a conservative estimate, since many people with very mild tics are unaware of them and never seek medical attention. However, effective medications are available for those whose symptoms interfere with functioning.

Conclusion

Other Health Impairments have side-line effects to an individual if not early identified, early intervened and well prepared set of specialized programs. The child or any person who suffers from this category of disability may adversely be affected socially, economically and culturally. There is, therefore a need to work together as the community to help each other on how benefit each other’s interactions. The respective governments should set programs to include these people with other health impairments, identifying this problem as early as possible and set intensive intervening planned programs.

References

http://nichcy.org/wp-content/uploads/docs/fs15.pdf

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