Cognitive disability

Cognitive disability is the consequence of cognitive dysfunctions: difficulties with memory, problems coping with change, language, receptive identification and gestures. Cognitive disability does not imply intellectual deficiency, but difficulties to muster capacities.

This should not be mistaken for mental or psychological handicap:

• Mental handicap, which results from an intellectual disability: a limited capacity to learn and an intellectual development significantly lower than average that is reflected in some difficulty thinking, conceptualizing, communicating, making decisions, etc.
• Psychological handicap, which results from invalidating psychological trouble. Like cognitive handicap, psychological handicap does not imply intellectual deficiency. It is characterized by alternating mental states of calm and tension, and by difficulties to acquire or express psychosocial abilities, with attention deficits and difficulties to elaborate and follow a plan of action. It can be translated in anguish, cognitive crises (problems with memorization, attention, organization, anticipation, adaptation to a context) and in difficulties to relate to people and in communication.

Learning disabilities (“Dys”orders) #

Learning disabilities are lasting neurologically-based processing problems. These problems can interfere with cognitive function such as reading, motor coordination, computing… it is not an intellectual deficiency, but a different mode of reasoning.

Learning disabilities encompass different types of problems:

• Dyslexia: reading disorder
• Dysorthograph: writing disorder
• Dysphasia: language disorder
• Dyscalculia: trouble with arithmetic, logic, and mathematical reasoning
• Dyspraxia: coordination disorder

Digital accessibility has also to take in account cognitive disabilities.

Examples of barriers met by dyslexic users: #

• Information overload
• Column layout
• Long blocks of text
• Serif font
• Blinding white of non uniform backgrounds
• Animated elements