Disability: characteristics, contexts and consequences

Disability affects a large number of individual Australians, their families and their communities. In 2003 there were 166,700 children below the age of 14 years with ‘severe or profound core activity restrictions’. Severe and profound core activity restrictions are labels used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to refer to those individuals who sometimes (severe) or always (profound) need help with a core activity (self-care, mobility and communication), this may include people with intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities. Consistent with the focus of this book, this chapter examines aspects of the development of people with disabilities in the context of their families and communities.