Publisher's Synopsis
This book - intended for professionals and students in rehabilitation medicine, special education, mental health, occupational and physical therapy, forensic psychiatry and nursing - addresses a range of concerns about the psychosocial assessment, counselling, rehabilitation, and adaptations of people with physical disabilities. It begins by exploring the ways in which personal feelings about one's body are closely tied to self-image and world view and the ways in which families respond to seriously impaired children. It then discusses the techniques for evaluating psychological and social development of disabled children and adults and differentiating among physical, social and emotional disabilities. The psychosocial issues that arise from differences in the age of onset of a disability, chances of increasing problems or early death, and physical appearance are discussed with reference to six major types of disability - cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and facial disfigurement. In the final section, the contributors consider social interactions between disabled people and the nondisabled majority.
