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From: Paul R. Bohman
Date: Mon, Oct 30 2006 4:20PM
Subject: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
accurate list:

* MEMORY
(e.g. short term memory loss & other memory deficits)

* ATTENTION
(e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention)

* PROBLEM SOLVING
(e.g. difficulty recovering from errors, difficulty figuring out new or
unexpected situations)

* ABSTRACTION
(e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts)

* SENSORY PERCEPTION
(e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
information received through vision or hearing)

* LANGUAGE PROCESSING
(e.g. reading disorders, dyslexia, etc.)

* ENCODING
(e.g. difficulty with certain forms of information or media, such as
text only, and/or the need for multiple methods of encoding, such as
audio and illustrations)

* TRANSFER
(e.g. Difficulties in connecting or associating knowledge or ideas; for
example, not being able to apply a principle learned in one situation to
a new, similar situation)


So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?


--

Paul R. Bohman
Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
George Mason University

From: Phil Teare
Date: Mon, Oct 30 2006 5:00PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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Sorry! Its in your list. I'm tired...



On 30/10/06, Phil Teare < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Perceptive?
> Such as Irens syndrome, where it is likely that the dyfunction is
> somewhere between sense, and working memory.
>
> Phil
>
> www.textictalk.com
>
>
>
> On 30/10/06, Paul R. Bohman < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> > not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> > and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> > content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
> > correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
> > accurate list:
> >
> > * MEMORY
> > (e.g. short term memory loss & other memory deficits)
> >
> > * ATTENTION
> > (e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention)
> >
> > * PROBLEM SOLVING
> > (e.g. difficulty recovering from errors, difficulty figuring out new or
> > unexpected situations)
> >
> > * ABSTRACTION
> > (e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts)
> >
> > * SENSORY PERCEPTION
> > (e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
> > information received through vision or hearing)
> >
> > * LANGUAGE PROCESSING
> > (e.g. reading disorders, dyslexia, etc.)
> >
> > * ENCODING
> > (e.g. difficulty with certain forms of information or media, such as
> > text only, and/or the need for multiple methods of encoding, such as
> > audio and illustrations)
> >
> > * TRANSFER
> > (e.g. Difficulties in connecting or associating knowledge or ideas; for
> > example, not being able to apply a principle learned in one situation to
> > a new, similar situation)
> >
> >
> > So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Paul R. Bohman
> > Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
> > Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
> > Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
> > George Mason University
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

From: Phil Teare
Date: Mon, Oct 30 2006 5:10PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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Perceptive?
Such as Irens syndrome, where it is likely that the dyfunction is somewhere
between sense, and working memory.

Phil

www.textictalk.com



On 30/10/06, Paul R. Bohman < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
>
>
> I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
> correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
> accurate list:
>
> * MEMORY
> (e.g. short term memory loss & other memory deficits)
>
> * ATTENTION
> (e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention)
>
> * PROBLEM SOLVING
> (e.g. difficulty recovering from errors, difficulty figuring out new or
> unexpected situations)
>
> * ABSTRACTION
> (e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts)
>
> * SENSORY PERCEPTION
> (e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
> information received through vision or hearing)
>
> * LANGUAGE PROCESSING
> (e.g. reading disorders, dyslexia, etc.)
>
> * ENCODING
> (e.g. difficulty with certain forms of information or media, such as
> text only, and/or the need for multiple methods of encoding, such as
> audio and illustrations)
>
> * TRANSFER
> (e.g. Difficulties in connecting or associating knowledge or ideas; for
> example, not being able to apply a principle learned in one situation to
> a new, similar situation)
>
>
> So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?
>
>
> --
>
> Paul R. Bohman
> Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
> Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
> Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
> George Mason University
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

From: John Foliot
Date: Mon, Oct 30 2006 5:40PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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Paul R. Bohman wrote:
> I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> content.

<snip>

>
> So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?

Paul this awesome, thanks for the great work, I'm definitely filing this one
away. May I suggest under Language Processing the issue of non-native
language (i.e. ESL, etc.), which, while not a disability per-se is still a
potentially significant barrier?

From: Philip Kiff
Date: Mon, Oct 30 2006 6:00PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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Paul R. Bohman wrote on 30 October 2006 18:14:
> I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
> correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
> accurate list:
[snip]

Depending on the purpose of your list, you may want to browse through the
categories of the WHO's ICIDH (International Classification of Functioning,
Disability and Health):
http://www3.who.int/icf/onlinebrowser/icf.cfm

Under "Body Functions" there is a Chapter on "Mental Functions", which
includes some of what you are identifying as "cognitive" disabilities.

This classification system is set up to identify issues as they relate to
specific functions and/or environments as opposed to classification systems
that concentrate on defining the particular disability/disease/disorder.

The ICIDH may not be of use to you for your project, but it may nevertheless
be useful to know that it exists, if you didn't already.

Phil.

From: Emma Duke-Williams
Date: Tue, Oct 31 2006 2:10AM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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You've probably thought of this under the "Encoding" section - but the
difficulty in understanding symbols - while symbols for some are
fantastic if you can't read, for others the same symbol can mean
different things - or is it "transfer"? - e.g. is a door the entrance
to something exciting - as often happens in adventure type games, or
the exit from the software ...

On 10/30/06, Paul R. Bohman < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
>
> I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
> correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
> accurate list:
>
> * MEMORY
> (e.g. short term memory loss & other memory deficits)
>
> * ATTENTION
> (e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention)
>
> * PROBLEM SOLVING
> (e.g. difficulty recovering from errors, difficulty figuring out new or
> unexpected situations)
>
> * ABSTRACTION
> (e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts)
>
> * SENSORY PERCEPTION
> (e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
> information received through vision or hearing)
>
> * LANGUAGE PROCESSING
> (e.g. reading disorders, dyslexia, etc.)
>
> * ENCODING
> (e.g. difficulty with certain forms of information or media, such as
> text only, and/or the need for multiple methods of encoding, such as
> audio and illustrations)
>
> * TRANSFER
> (e.g. Difficulties in connecting or associating knowledge or ideas; for
> example, not being able to apply a principle learned in one situation to
> a new, similar situation)
>
>
> So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?
>
>
> --
>
> Paul R. Bohman
> Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
> Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
> Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
> George Mason University
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>


--
Blog: http://www.tech.port.ac.uk/staffweb/duke-wie/blog/

From: Phil Teare
Date: Tue, Oct 31 2006 3:00AM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
← Previous message | Next message →

>
> ...fantastic if you can't read, for others the same symbol can mean
> different things - or is it "transfer"?



I'd say this would be visual recognition. Which would also be linked to
Spatial Awareness, and nonverbal reasoning.

Phil Teare
www.textictalk.com



On 31/10/06, Emma Duke-Williams < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> You've probably thought of this under the "Encoding" section - but the
> difficulty in understanding symbols - while symbols for some are
> fantastic if you can't read, for others the same symbol can mean
> different things - or is it "transfer"? - e.g. is a door the entrance
> to something exciting - as often happens in adventure type games, or
> the exit from the software ...
>
> On 10/30/06, Paul R. Bohman < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> >
> >
> > I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> > not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> > and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> > content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
> > correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
> > accurate list:
> >
> > * MEMORY
> > (e.g. short term memory loss & other memory deficits)
> >
> > * ATTENTION
> > (e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention)
> >
> > * PROBLEM SOLVING
> > (e.g. difficulty recovering from errors, difficulty figuring out new or
> > unexpected situations)
> >
> > * ABSTRACTION
> > (e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts)
> >
> > * SENSORY PERCEPTION
> > (e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
> > information received through vision or hearing)
> >
> > * LANGUAGE PROCESSING
> > (e.g. reading disorders, dyslexia, etc.)
> >
> > * ENCODING
> > (e.g. difficulty with certain forms of information or media, such as
> > text only, and/or the need for multiple methods of encoding, such as
> > audio and illustrations)
> >
> > * TRANSFER
> > (e.g. Difficulties in connecting or associating knowledge or ideas; for
> > example, not being able to apply a principle learned in one situation to
> > a new, similar situation)
> >
> >
> > So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Paul R. Bohman
> > Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
> > Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
> > Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
> > George Mason University
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Blog: http://www.tech.port.ac.uk/staffweb/duke-wie/blog/
>
>
>
>

From: Joshue O Connor
Date: Tue, Oct 31 2006 4:00AM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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Pauls list (thanks Paul) is a good segue into a discussion on how to
best serve users with cognitive disabilities.
I think users with cognitive disabilities are the hardest to serve, and
in terms of what WAI/WCAG are doing, they
are maybe the hardest to provide a definitive roadmap for developers to
successfully accommodate their needs.

If any one in the list has some links to other good resources on this
subject, please share.

I am finding this a little difficult to impart, so if the following
wanders, please forgive me:

But I think, maybe a subsection could be added to Pauls list around the
area of motivation/interest, especially within the context of education?
I have taught students who are very keen to learn but are frustrated in
their studies by their disability or by their ability to learn. There is
a flip side to that also as there are those who have the ability but not
the interest to apply themselves. I have experienced the latter within
the context of students with sensory/intellectual disability.

I have worked with students who are very capable and intelligent, but
would not apply themselves to the course materials (I was teaching two
students with cognitive/sensory disabilities the ECDL course, whether we
should have been doing that or not is another issue), and one girl in
particular would not apply herself to the fullness of her ability, which
I found frustrating as I had other students who were very keen, but did
not have her ability, and therefore would have found the course very
difficult.

If the above makes no sense, apologies in advance.

Josh

Emma Duke-Williams wrote:
> You've probably thought of this under the "Encoding" section - but the
> difficulty in understanding symbols - while symbols for some are
> fantastic if you can't read, for others the same symbol can mean
> different things - or is it "transfer"? - e.g. is a door the entrance
> to something exciting - as often happens in adventure type games, or
> the exit from the software ...
>
> On 10/30/06, Paul R. Bohman < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>
>> I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
>> not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
>> and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
>> content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
>> correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
>> accurate list:
>>
>> * MEMORY
>> (e.g. short term memory loss & other memory deficits)
>>
>> * ATTENTION
>> (e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention)
>>
>> * PROBLEM SOLVING
>> (e.g. difficulty recovering from errors, difficulty figuring out new or
>> unexpected situations)
>>
>> * ABSTRACTION
>> (e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts)
>>
>> * SENSORY PERCEPTION
>> (e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
>> information received through vision or hearing)
>>
>> * LANGUAGE PROCESSING
>> (e.g. reading disorders, dyslexia, etc.)
>>
>> * ENCODING
>> (e.g. difficulty with certain forms of information or media, such as
>> text only, and/or the need for multiple methods of encoding, such as
>> audio and illustrations)
>>
>> * TRANSFER
>> (e.g. Difficulties in connecting or associating knowledge or ideas; for
>> example, not being able to apply a principle learned in one situation to
>> a new, similar situation)
>>
>>
>> So, what do you think? What would you add, delete, or change?
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Paul R. Bohman
>> Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
>> Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
>> Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
>> George Mason University
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>


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From: Jared Smith
Date: Tue, Oct 31 2006 9:30AM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
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Joshue O Connor wrote:
> But I think, maybe a subsection could be added to Pauls list around the
> area of motivation/interest, especially within the context of education?

I thought of this as well. I don't know that it would be characterized as a
disability, just like non-native language proficiency would not be a
disability, but I certainly think motivation/interest is relevant here. The
level of motivation can have a big impact upon whether web content is
accessible to an individual or not. Someone with an attention deficit, for
instance, may have less difficulty processing content if their motivation
and interest in that content is high. I think this factor can be quite
impactful for many cognitive disability types.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the disability is not relevant if the
person is just motivated enough. As an extreme example (though one I
actually see from time to time), someone that is blind can't become less
blind by "trying harder". Though I suppose one could argue that if
motivated/interested they may spend more time using a screen reader to
orient themselves with site structure, layout, and navigation (for
example), thus making that site less inaccessible to them than one that
does not provide that effort.

On the other hand, I suppose the intent of all of this is that the content
can be natively accessible (whatever that means) without requiring high
amounts of motivation or interest.

Jared

From: Paul R. Bohman
Date: Tue, Oct 31 2006 12:40PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities (2nd Draft)
← Previous message | Next message →

Thanks for the feedback so far on my original list of functional cognitive
disabilities <http://webaim.org/discussion/mail_message.php?id=9597>;. I've
made some modifications. I think my second draft is more useful than my
first draft, but I'm interested in more feedback. My commentary is after the
list itself:

- MEMORY
(e.g. short term memory loss, and/or other memory deficits)
- ATTENTION
(e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention; impulse
control deficits; low threshold for cognitive overload, etc.)
- PROBLEM SOLVING & TOLERANCE FOR CHANGE
(e.g. difficulty recovering from errors; difficulty figuring out new
or unexpected situations)
- ABSTRACTION, INFERENCE, & DEDUCTION LOGIC
(e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts, including
metaphors, puns, sarcasm, etc.; difficulty discerning implied meaning;
difficulty comprehending logical reasoning; difficulty identifying the main
point of the content)
- CALCULATION LOGIC
(e.g. difficulty with mathematical procedures, operations, logical
sequences, and/or computations)
- SENSORY PERCEPTION & ENCODING
(e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
information received through vision and/or hearing, including difficulties
in assimilating or accommodating the information into a person's knowledge
sets, cognitive schema, mental models, etc.)
- TEXT AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING
(e.g. limited vocabulary; the tendency to confuse words and/or
characters [as in some forms of dyslexia]; difficulties in associating words
with their meanings or to understand sentence construction [as in some forms
of aphasia], etc.)
- TASK SEQUENCING
(e.g. difficulty understanding, initiating and/or following multi-step
procedures)
- CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS
(e.g. narrow focus; difficulty understanding or being aware of the
larger context; not understanding that something may be partially or fully
obscured from view and/or not realizing how to reveal hidden objects or
information)
- CONCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
(e.g. difficulty in recognizing, forming, or discriminating between
mental groupings of ideas, items, facts, etc.)
- INTELLECTUAL CONFIDENCE
(e.g. lack of faith or trust in one's cognitive abilities)


Other potential candidates for the list:

- Motivation
- Emotion
- Transfer (this was in my original list)

I haven't included motivation in the list because I think motivation may be
a separate line of inquiry--definitely related, but not a core component of
the idea behind the word "disability." However, you'll notice that I
included a new item called "intellectual confidence." I suppose you could
argue that this is not necessarily in line with "disability" either, but I
think I see a more direct relationship between one's cognitive
dis/abilities--or one's perceived cognitive dis/abilities--and the resulting
effect on one's confidence in those abilities.

You'll also notice that I combined a few items, such as "sensory perception"
and "encoding". I did this because even though they are separate cognitive
and neurological phenomena, from a web developer's standpoint, the result is
the same.

In case you're wondering how I'm coming up with these categories, I'm
researching ideas from educational psychology, human computer interaction,
web usability theory, web accessibility, and the cognitive sciences, as
broad categories. I'm trying to reverse engineer that information to come up
with my list.

I'll eventually try to categorize existing web accessibility guidelines and
web usability guidelines according to these cognitive disability categories,
with the intent of finding out 1) how well the guidelines map to cognitive
disabilities, and 2) how well the research supports the guidelines (and my
categories) in terms of providing research-based recommendations to web
developers.

--
Paul R. Bohman
Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
George Mason University

From: Owens, Parker
Date: Wed, Nov 01 2006 6:40AM
Subject: Re: functional cognitive disabilities
← Previous message | Next message →

I thought I might mention there are a couple of groups that don't fit
neatly into your classifications: Youth, and folks trying to understand
symbols and language when the language used is not their primary
language. For instance, Japanese trying to understand symbols on an
English page.

I've got a pdf on readability, and a ppt on cognitive difficulties I'm
working on if anyone is interested.

Parker Owens
Web Accessibility Office
Eastern Kentucky University
254 Case Annex
Richmond, KY 40475

Phone: (859) 622-2743
http://www.accessibility.eku.edu

From: Paul R. Bohman
Date: Wed, Nov 01 2006 8:20AM
Subject: Re: functional cognitive disabilities
← Previous message | Next message →

On 11/1/06, Owens, Parker < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> I thought I might mention there are a couple of groups that don't fit
> neatly into your classifications: Youth,


By "youth" do you mean children who may not have the necessary neurological
development, life experiences, or background knowledge to understand the
context or content matter? Or are you referring to something else?

I wouldn't classify youth or childhood as a disability, even though there
are obvious developmental immaturities in children. What I'm trying to do is
describe in functional terms what those immaturities and deficiencies are,
rather than just point to a segment of the population that has them.

and folks trying to understand
> symbols and language when the language used is not their primary
> language. For instance, Japanese trying to understand symbols on an
> English page.


Cross-cultural communication is indeed an important issue. I wouldn't
classify it as a disability though. I don't feel disabled by my inability to
understand Japanese symbols or their cultural context. I simply feel
foreign. I know that this type of situation "simulates" cognitive
disabilities in some ways, and there are things we can learn from these
scenarios, but still they are not disabilities. I wonder if your example
might fit into my proposed categories of:
- "text and language processing" (if you are referring to the symbols used
in the alphabet), or
- "contextual awareness" (if you are referring to icons, graphics,
illustrations, or other similar symbols that are dependent upon relevant
background knowledge, including cultural context), or
- "abstraction, inference, and deduction logic" (if you are referring to the
ability to figure out what a symbol means, in the sense that a symbol can be
used as a metaphor or as an abstract non-representational replacement for a
concept)

I've got a pdf on readability, and a ppt on cognitive difficulties I'm
> working on if anyone is interested.


They sound relevant to the conversation, so I'd be interested in reading
what you have.


--
Paul R. Bohman
Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
George Mason University

From: Paul R. Bohman
Date: Thu, Nov 02 2006 4:00PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities (3rd Draft)
← Previous message | Next message →

I'm now on my 3rd draft of functional cognitive disabilities (which
I've posted below, after my comments). This draft is similar to the
previous ones, with the following changes:

1. I separated "problem-solving" and "tolerance for change"
2. I dropped "intellectual confidence", because I think I've decided
that a lack of confidence is more of a psychological/emotional trait,
not necessarily caused by a disability, though there may be a
correlation.
3. I added the word "orientation" to make a new phrase: "Orientation
and contextual awareness"
4. I added "Cognitive speed", which refers to the tendency in some
individuals to have slower thought processes.
5. I added "Psychosocial development", which has reference to a
person's intellectual "maturity" in comparison to the population as a
whole.

Of these changes, I think the addition of "psychosocial development"
is the most important. The inclusion of this item in the list should
also help to bridge the gap between designing for children and
designing for adults whose developmental characteristics are quite
child-like. As web accessibility specialists, we like to tell people
that accessible design can accommodate the widest range of users. This
is usually true. However, designing for people of "lower"
developmental maturity is not at all like designing for adults. I
think this is where we have to admit that universal design is
practically impossible.

I should also mention that these categories may occur in isolation in
any given individual (i.e. a person may fit only one category), but
chances are that more than one category will apply to the same
individual. There is certainly some overlap between the categories
too. They are not mutually exclusive.

So here's my third draft:


1. MEMORY
(e.g. short term memory loss, and/or other memory deficits)

2. ATTENTION
(e.g. difficulty concentrating, focusing, or paying attention; impulse
control deficits;)

3. PROBLEM-SOLVING
(e.g. difficulty recovering from errors; low threshold for cognitive overload)

4. TOLERANCE FOR CHANGE
(discomfort with new or unexpected situations)

5. ABSTRACTION, INFERENCE, & DEDUCTION LOGIC
(e.g. difficulty with non-literal language and/or concepts, including
metaphors, puns, sarcasm, etc.; difficulty discerning implied meaning;
difficulty comprehending logical reasoning; difficulty identifying the
main point of the content)

6. CALCULATION LOGIC
(e.g. difficulty with mathematical procedures, operations, logical
sequences, and/or computations)

7. SENSORY PERCEPTION & ENCODING
(e.g. deficiencies in the brain's ability to perceive and/or encode
information received through vision and/or hearing, including
difficulties in assimilating or accommodating the information into a
person's knowledge sets, cognitive schema, mental models, etc.)

8. TEXT AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING
(e.g. limited vocabulary; the tendency to confuse words and/or
characters [as in some forms of dyslexia]; difficulties in associating
words with their meanings or to understand sentence construction [as
in some forms of aphasia], etc.)

9. TASK SEQUENCING AND COMPLETION
(e.g. difficulty understanding, initiating and/or following multi-step
procedures)

10. ORIENTATION AND CONTEXTUAL AWARENESS
(e.g. narrow focus; difficulty understanding or being aware of the
larger context; not understanding that something may be partially or
fully obscured from view and/or not realizing how to reveal hidden
objects or information)

11. CONCEPTUAL ORGANIZATION
(e.g. difficulty in recognizing, forming, or discriminating between
mental groupings of ideas, items, facts, etc.)

12. COGNITIVE SPEED
(slow thought processes)

13. PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
(e.g. childlike tendencies; behaviors possibly regarded as "immature")



Undoubtedly I will make changes and adjustments over time, but this is
where the list stands at the moment.

--
Paul R. Bohman
Administrative Faculty, College of Education & Human Development
Lead Architect of Web Services, Office of Technology Support
Technology Coordinator, Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities
George Mason University

From: Cindy Sue Causey
Date: Wed, Nov 08 2006 9:30PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
← Previous message | Next message →

Cool.. :)

As everyone gets involved in following this same train of thought, I
ask, encourage you to please look also to resources such as disability
Advocacy Offices (Protection and Advocacy, P&As) and centers for
independent living (CILs, international) (1) as resources for
disability-related terminology..

More specifically, though, I find mine here in Georgia to be
*wonderfully* versed, very forward thinking.. They are: Georgia
Advocacy Office (GAO) (2) and disABILITY LINK (3), both within blocks
of each other in Decatur, Georgia..

Additionally, if I may, evolving works generated by the United Nations
Ad Hoc Committee (full name provided below) (4) would help guide those
looking for the most *respectful* ways to address disability
terminology in your own reference materials..

Peace.. :)

Cindy Sue

- :: -
http://360.yahoo.com/Mountain_Splash
http://sixalmostseven.butterflybytes.com
Georgia Voices That Count, 2005
Talking Rock, GA, USA


(1) ILRU, Independent Living Research Utilization CIL Directory
http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/

(2) Georgia Advocacy Office
http://www.thegao.org/

(3) disABILITY LINK
http://www.disabilitylink.org/

(4) U.N. Enable, Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and
Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm



On 10/31/06, = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Send WebAIM-Forum mailing list submissions to
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Paul R. Bohman" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
> To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 18:14:27 -0500
> Subject: [WebAIM] Functional Cognitive Disabilities
>
>
> I'm trying to compile a list of functional cognitive disabilities. I'm
> not referring to clinical or medical categories, but to the conditions
> and/or limitations that affect a person's ability to use internet
> content. Here is a preliminary list. Please add to it, comment on it,
> correct it, or otherwise help me compile a more complete and more
> accurate list:

From: John Foliot
Date: Wed, Nov 08 2006 10:20PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
← Previous message | Next message →

Cindy Sue Causey wrote:
> Additionally, if I may, evolving works generated by the United Nations
> Ad Hoc Committee (full name provided below) (4) would help guide those
> looking for the most *respectful* ways to address
> disability terminology in your own reference materials..
>
> (4) U.N. Enable, Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
> International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights
> and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
> http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm

Cindy,

While your offer of information and references is most appreciated, the link
above to the UN seeking out *respectful* terminology, is, with most respect,
a mess. Is there in fact a link to appropriate terminology there somewhere?
Is there content there that can be read by people who *DO NOT* have MS Word
installed?

For a web site that claims to address the needs and allegedly respects the
dignity of those with disabilities, it is probably the most inaccessible
collection of content proposed to this list in some very long time. I know
that it is not content that you authored, but it rubs the wrong way.

JF

From: Cindy Sue Causey
Date: Fri, Nov 10 2006 1:40PM
Subject: Re: Functional Cognitive Disabilities
← Previous message | No next message

John..

I'll see what I can find to help accommodate your request for further
information regarding the U.N. Ad Hoc Committee..

In reference to past and future correspondence from these fingertips,
please regard this as an open, public disclosure that from behind this
keyboard keys an individual with rapidly progressing [cognitive
disabilities].. Thusly, what flows from these fingertips will
inadvertantly reflect that on regular occasion.. ;)

Anecdotal, the email in part questioned was literally *hours* in the
making as its intended audience, this list, was given full
consideration.. It was indeed my personal hope during that time that,
should unforeseen [obstacles] still be encountered with respect to the
proffered resource opportunities, those better versed, those able to
provide a speedy remedy to same said [obstacles] might additionally
have the time available to freely address them to the benefit of all..

Again, I will do what I can from here to track down your requested
information.. Thank you in advance for understanding that it will take
a reasonable amount time to fully debrief your observation then pursue
a viable remedy.. Your feedback has been fully appreciated in its
entirety.. :)

Peace.. :)

Cindy Sue

- :: -
http://360.yahoo.com/Mountain_Splash
http://sixalmostseven.butterflybytes.com
Georgia Voices That Count, 2005
Talking Rock, GA, USA



On 11/9/06, = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Send WebAIM-Forum mailing list submissions to
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "John Foliot" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 21:13:27 -0800
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Functional Cognitive Disabilities

< snip >

While your offer of information and references is most appreciated, the link
above to the UN seeking out *respectful* terminology, is, with most respect,
a mess. Is there in fact a link to appropriate terminology there somewhere?
Is there content there that can be read by people who *DO NOT* have MS Word
installed?

For a web site that claims to address the needs and allegedly respects the
dignity of those with disabilities, it is probably the most inaccessible
collection of content proposed to this list in some very long time. I know
that it is not content that you authored, but it rubs the wrong way.