Physical disabilities involve either loss of physical movement, or a weakness or change in normal motor control. Some physical disabilities are present at birth (congenital) or are acquired due to illness, accident, or unknown causes. Loss of movement is often caused by a spinal cord injury (damage to the nervous system) or by physical trauma such as severe fracture, burns or the amputation of a limb. One of the most common physical disabilities in young people, cerebral palsy (CP), produces disturbances of voluntary motor control ranging from clumsy and awkward movements to little or no coordinated movement. Individuals with CP can have related speech problems, as well as impaired hearing or vision. Other conditions such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, produce similar types of changes in physical functioning.

What is Cerebral Palsy?
Canadian Facts on Spinal Cord Injury
FAQ about Spinal Cord Injuries
Repetitive Strain Injury

A psychiatric disability is commonly referred to as a mental illness. Psychiatric disabilities are diseases whereby symptoms can be controlled and reduced by medications. Types of psychiatric disabilities include depression, attention deficit disorder (ADD), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Visual disabilities range from low-vision to blindness. The subjectivity of a visual disability must be respected because each person who has an eye disease, for example, will experience a "different way of seeing things". Vision is often dependent on bright or cloudy weather, high or low pressure, the individual's emotions, and the way light bounces off surroundings. An individual is said to be blind when he or she is totally without sight or with so little sight that he or she must learn through other senses. The following is a definition of visual impairment:

A level of vision that with standard correction hinders an individual on the visual planning and execution of tasks, but which permits enhancement of the functional vision through the use of optical aids and environmental modifications and/or techniques.