ABSTRACT
Impairment refers to personal limitations brought about by a degree of loss of physical, sensory or mental functioning. Examples are dual sensory impairment, hearing impairment, language impairment, visual impairment or motor impairment. Where impairment has a substantial effect on an individual, this is related to the definition of disability. For example, in England, under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 section 1(1), a person has a disability if ‘he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial or long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.
