Orthopedic Impairment Essay

The IDEA definition for Orthopedic Impairment: “Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures)”. “The IDEA category of orthopedic impairments contains a wide variety of disorders. These can be divided into three main areas: neuromotor impairments, degenerative diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders”.

Some of the qualifying orthopedic impairments are:
• Osteomyelitis is a chronic bacteria that over time destroys
• Cleft palate happens when the roof of the mouth has failed to be completely closed.
• Angular Bone Deformity causes bent bones just above or bellow the knees, “this condition causes severe knock knees (genu valgus) or bow legs (genu varus) that develop and worsen with growth”. The resulting knee knocking will lead to a loss of the ability to walk and arthritis. Is present in a situation where nutrition is lacking and can be easily fixed by surgery.
• Burn contractures occur when burn scars pull the joints out of position and result in physical impairment.
• Spina bifida is a defect that results in a failure of the spine to be a completely closed system, often causing paralysis, may, or may not result in intellectual issues for the individual. The two types of spina bifida are: spina bifida occulta (Milder) or spina bifida cystic (more severe).
• Muscular dystrophy is a set of diseases that attack the muscle and central nervous system causing the individual a loss of motor control from muscle weakness and the destruction of muscle fibers.
Assessment tools used for Orthopedic Impairment are:
• School Function