Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities

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Brief description of Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities

Detailed description of examples of Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities

How Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities can impact on learning, teaching and training

Brief description of Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities

The term medical condition includes a wide variety of diagnoses including, for example, asthma, epilepsy, diabetes, chronic pain and heart disease. Most people have experienced temporary ill health of one kind or another from time to time but some people have longer term or permanent conditions which have been present from birth or acquired during life. The effects of these depend on the person’s age, circumstances and the nature of the conditions and/or treatment.

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Detailed description of examples of Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities

Allergies and Asthma

Increasing numbers of people are affected by some kind of allergy or by asthma. Research commissioned by Asthma UK published on 1st December 2004 entitled 'Where do we stand', revealed that 5.2 million people in the UK have asthma. Of this approximately 4.1 million are adults and 1.1 million are children. Asthma is costing the UK more than £2.3 billion a year through the NHS, benefits and lost working days.

Most adults with asthma are able to establish methods of controlling their condition so that it does not normally affect their daily life. They know potential triggers and therefore are often able to prevent asthma attacks. However, it is still necessary for colleges to ensure that there are proper procedures for dealing with substances – called respiratory ‘sensitisers’ – that can cause asthma or other allergies, those most relevant are animal allergens, chemicals and latex rubber.

Dysosmia – Impaired Sense of Smell

An impaired sense of smell is usually associated with ageing; however, it can also occur in younger people and can be present from birth.

Apart from the need for extra safety precautions with regard to detecting smoke and gas, there is also the need to compensate for the fact that, for example, someone cannot detect food which has decayed.

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological condition in the world. According to the UK National Society for Epilepsy 1 in 131 people in the UK have epilepsy. There are at least 456 000 people in the UK who currently have epilepsy.

Photosensitive epilepsy is a rare condition in which seizures may be triggered by flashing or flickering lights or by certain geometric shapes and patterns. People with this condition are most likely to react to lights which flicker between five and thirty times per second (5-30Hz).

The UK National Society for Epilepsy provides advice for employers on the issues relating to someone who has epilepsy. The Society’s literature states that:

”If someone has uncontrolled epilepsy, it will be necessary to take into consideration any risks that a particular type of seizure might present in the workplace to themselves, their colleagues and clients”’

According to the Society’s information, some occupations are barred by statutory provision for people with a history of epilepsy. These are:

Teaching posts involving physical education, science and technology, work with young children, jobs in the prison service involving close contact with inmates and some areas of nursing. The Police and Armed Services are included in this exemption.

Each of the above professions has specific regulations, some of which allow them to accept people who have not had seizures for a specified number of years and have not been taking medication during that time.

Other occupations listed as being those where difficulties may be experienced even though there are no statutory barriers include:

Aircraft pilot, ambulance driver, merchant seaman, LGV, PCV or Taxi driver, train driver and jobs in the armed services, or fire brigade

There is, therefore, a ‘well-trodden path’ and an acceptance of the fact that it is not only perfectly legitimate but also a grave responsibility to exclude people with certain types of epilepsy from certain professions.

Another area for consideration is the issue of holding a driving licence.  In the UK, the DVLA states that a person needs to be seizure free for a period of one year, either with or without anti-epileptic medication, in order to hold a Group 1 driving licence (cars and motorbikes). Not being able to drive because of epilepsy could, therefore, affect someone’s future career path regardless of whether or not having epilepsy would prohibit them for qualifying for that profession.

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How Medical Conditions/Unseen Disabilities can impact on learning, teaching and training

Routines

Conditions such as chronic pain, epilepsy or psychiatric conditions can seriously affect a person’s daily routine. In many ways, it can be the side effects of the condition itself which cause difficulty. For example, an individual may be prone to fatigue or stress, or special medication may cause drowsiness and/or poor concentration.

Environment

Learners can also be affected by the environment, e.g. people with epilepsy, diabetes or asthma. For some people these can cause physical or sensory disabilities and for many stamina can also be affected. This means that planning an evenly distributed workload with the possibility of delayed/staggered deadlines is important. This consideration is particularly significant when learners have had time off and need to both catch up and cope with the demands of new studies.

Understanding

People with these conditions may not see themselves as having a disability and may not have indicated on application that they have a particular need. They may also have faced prejudice previously from those around them and this may restrict their willingness to disclose their condition. It is therefore particularly important that it is made known that teachers and trainers will be sympathetic to learners with hidden disabilities or medical conditions.

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