Regardless of the type of disability you have, it means that you stand, walk, sit and do things differently than a person with full bodily function. This means that your body is subject to strains on a daily basis which, in the long term, could lead to pain and reduced mobility. Despite this, it can be difficult to avoid certain patterns of movement, due to the limitations on how one’s body functions. However, there are still certain things that could be good to think about, and the information provided below has been divided into a number of central themes that became apparent during the interviews.
Having a disability places a strain on a person both physically and mentally, and means that things generally take more time and energy. A disability which requires a person to constantly use their body and energy to the maximum extent, eventually leads to reduced margins and an increased susceptibility to injury, disease or other complications. You could say that such a person has less scope for unhealthy habits, and that such habits lead to greater consequences than they would for a person without a disability. If someone is very overweight, has high blood pressure, high levels of fat in their blood and diabetes, they have an increased risk of suffering from heart disease.
There are a number of things a person can do to reduce this risk.