Glossary

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Schizophrenia(also: Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders)

A chronic psychiatric condition characterized by disturbances in thought, perception, emotion, and behavior, including symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, reduced emotional expression, and cognitive difficulties with memory, attention, and…

Scotopic Sensitivity(also: Irlen Syndrome, Visual Stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome)

A visual-perceptual condition in which certain wavelengths of light cause discomfort, distortion, or difficulty when reading. People with scotopic sensitivity may experience text appearing to shimmer, move, or blur on the page, particularly with high-contrast black text on white…

Sensory Disability(also: Sensory Impairment)

A disability that affects one or more of the senses — most commonly vision and hearing, but also including touch, taste, and smell. Sensory disabilities encompass conditions such as blindness, low vision, deafness, hard of hearing, and deafblindness. In digital accessibility,…

Severe Speech and Motor Impairment(also: SSMI)

A condition where an individual has significant limitations in both spoken communication and physical movement, often co-occurring in conditions such as cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or traumatic brain injury. People with SSMI typically rely on…

Severe Speech and Physical Impairments(also: SSPI)

A classification describing individuals who have significant limitations in both speech production and physical movement, often co-occurring in conditions such as cerebral palsy. People with SSPI may have little or no functional speech and limited fine motor control, which…

Severe and Multiple Disabilities(also: Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities, PMLD, Severe Multiple Disabilities)

A condition where an individual has two or more significant disabilities occurring simultaneously, typically involving profound physical impairments combined with intellectual disability and often sensory impairments. People with severe and multiple disabilities frequently have…

Spasm(also: Muscle Spasm, Spasticity)

A sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle or group of muscles that can cause uncontrolled movement or a temporary inability to move. Spasms are common in conditions such as cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, and multiple sclerosis. In the context of computer accessibility,…

Spastic Cerebral Palsy(also: Spastic CP)

The most common subtype of cerebral palsy, characterised by stiff or tight muscles (hypertonia) and exaggerated reflexes, caused by damage to the motor cortex or corticospinal tracts of the developing brain. Subtypes are further classified by the limbs affected (diplegia,…

Spastic Quadriplegia(also: Spastic Tetraplegia)

The most severe subtype of spastic cerebral palsy, characterised by stiff, tight muscles (spasticity) and significantly reduced voluntary movement in all four limbs and often the trunk. People with spastic quadriplegia commonly use powered wheelchairs and may rely on switch…

Specific Language Impairment(also: SLI, Developmental Language Disorder)

A neurodevelopmental condition characterised by significant difficulties in acquiring and using language that cannot be attributed to hearing loss, intellectual disability, neurological damage, or environmental deprivation. Children with specific language impairment may have…

Speech Delay(also: Language Delay, Delayed Speech)

A condition in which a child does not develop speech and language skills at the expected rate for their age. Speech delay can affect the production of sounds (articulation), the ability to form words and sentences (expressive language), or the understanding of language…

Spina Bifida(also: Neural Tube Defect, Myelomeningocele)

A congenital birth defect in which the embryonic neural tube fails to close completely during development, resulting in an incompletely formed spinal cord. The severity ranges from mild (spina bifida occulta, often asymptomatic) to severe (myelomeningocele, where the spinal cord…

Spinal Muscular Atrophy(also: SMA)

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by degeneration of spinal cord motor neurons, atrophy of skeletal muscles, and generalized weakness. Affecting approximately 1 in 6,000-10,000 live births, SMA is the leading genetic…

Spinal Stenosis(also: Lumbar Stenosis, Cervical Stenosis)

A narrowing of the spaces within the spine that can put pressure on the nerves travelling through the spinal column. When spinal stenosis occurs in the cervical (neck) region, it can cause weakness, numbness, or tingling in the hands and arms, affecting fine motor control and…

Stargardt Disease(also: Stargardt Macular Dystrophy, Fundus Flavimaculatus)

An inherited eye condition that causes progressive vision loss affecting the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for sharp, detailed vision. Stargardt disease typically begins in childhood or adolescence and leads to reduced central visual acuity while peripheral…

Stuttering(also: Stammering, Speech Disfluency Disorder)

A speech disorder characterized by involuntary disruptions in the flow of speech, including repetitions of sounds, syllables, or words (e.g., "w-w-water"), prolongations of sounds (e.g., "sssssnake"), and blocks where airflow is stopped and no sound is produced. Stuttering…

Symbrachydactyly

A rare congenital condition in which a child is born with abnormally short fingers that may be webbed, misshapen, or missing. The name combines "sym" (joined), "brachy" (short), and "dactyly" (finger). Typically only one hand is affected, and the underlying bone, muscle,…

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