Glossary



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A

Accessible

In the case of a facility, readily usable by a particular individual; in the case of a
program or activity, presented or provided in such a way that a particular individual can
participate, with or without auxiliary aid(s); in the case of electronic resources, accessible with or
without assistive computer technology.

Adolescence

the mental maturity process after puberty

ageing

Biological ageing refers to the physical state of the body in relation to the biological processes of growth, maturation, death and decay of organ and body functioning.

Social ageing may be strongly influenced by legal, ethical, religious, or historical experiences.  As members of the greater society, older adults are more underprivileged when they are intellectual disabled.

Psychological processes of development and ageing from a lifespan perspective, is the management of the dynamics between gains and losses, consisting of three interacting elements: selection, optimization, and compensation (2:10)All three dimensions are equally important. It does not help to have a physically strong body if you have a severe depression that makes you lie in bed all day.

We may also talk about historical ageing, to explain behaviour, adaptations, complaints, functioning, and health problems the person has 'today'. It may also be a reason to remember the tragic side to historical ageing in people with ID. For instance, countries like Germany and Austria have only a few PWID who survived the systematic killing during the Nazi regime (4).

Functional ageing is a useful concept to describe ageing in PWID. When adults with ID, at advanced chronological biological age, noticing difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, eating and talking, they may start to feel old (2:11). By focusing on 'functional ageing', the persons own understanding and feeling of being old are in focus. We listen to how the person himself define the ageing process and challenges they need help to cope with.

Ambivalence

Ambivalence (Latin ambo = "both" and valere = "valid") denotes a state of psychic disunity.
At the same time, contradictory desires, feelings and thoughts coexist in one person and lead to internal tensions

Amnesty International

A London-based non-governmental organization focused on human
rights. The organization claims to have more than seven million members and supporters around
the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every
person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
other international human rights instruments.

astigmatism

a defect in the eye or in a lens caused by a deviation from spherical curvature, which results in distorted images, as light rays are prevented from meeting at a common focus.

Autism

According to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), autism is considered a "profound developmental disorder" (F84). This is based on a lifelong complex disorder of the central nervous system - especially in the field of perception processing - which begins as early as childhood. At its center is a serious relationship and communication disorder. The effects of the disorder interfere in many ways with relationships with the environment, participation in community life, and the ability to integrate into society as both cognitive and linguistic, motor, emotional, and interactional functions are affected. In addition, there are numerous behavioral problems that can be very stressful especially for caregivers in everyday dealings with the autistic people.

Autonomy

Autonomy (ancient Greek αὐτονομία autonomía 'autonomy', 'autonomy', αὐτός autós, self 'and νόμος nómos' law') refers to the state of self-determination, independence (sovereignty), self-government or freedom of choice. Its opposite is heteronomy.