Complex/Multiple Disabilities

Demographics
Medical Details
Accommodations

Demographics

Data from the UK and Australia estimates that 10 to 15% of Disabled people have complex needs.

Medical Details

Differing Defintions

On its face, it seems like we can define multiple/complex disabilities a referring to any person who is multiply disabled. Cognitive, psychological, mobility, seizure, visual, speech and language, hearing. We've identified these as our categories, so mix and match, right?

Not really. It's a label whose existance right now is almost entirely practical. Multiple/complex disability is basically a funding allocation defined differently in various jurisdictions. In the US, DeafBlind individuals do not experience multiple/complex disability, because people categorized as 'DeafBlind' and people categorized with 'Multiple disabilities' have different funding allocations.

Sometimes there are other parameters placed on the funding allocation. According to Project IDEAL's page on Multiple disabilities, a linked BoK source, in the US, a person who has depression and limited ambulation will not be given the 'Multiple disabilities' in the educational setting. This is because the 'Multiple disabilities' designation is only given to people who require extensive support 'that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairements.'

However, if that same person was applying for the disability tax credit in Canada, they would likely apply as a person with complex disabilities (experiencing mild-to-severe limitations in two of the many official realms of functioning essential for everyday life: cognitive functioning and walking ability).

On the other hand, according to Sense, a UK source linked by the BoK, defines 'complex disability' quite rigidly. One has complex disability if they report their life is impacted by their disabilities and they have two or more of the following: sight loss, hearing loss, autism, and learning disability. In other words, a DeafBlind person has complex disabilities in the UK, but is not considered to have multiple disabilities in the US!

The Important Takeaway

I hope this exposes you slightly to the administrative hoops that governments force Disabled people to jump through in order to qualify for different programs and support.

People can be and often are disabled in multiple ways. Ashlee M. Fisher/Boyer's piece, "Disability is not a Single-Selection Field" provides insight on how the assumption of a single disability can be alienating.

I really resonate with her piece.

Accommodations

People who are multiply disabled may not be able to accommodate themselves the way a person with a single disability would.

The clearest example of this is DeafBlindness. Not quite accounted for in the visual Deaf world, or the audio-oriented Blind world, they have had to blaze their own path in creating tactile-forward support systems and languages.