4.8 Clients with disabilities This section provides an overview
of disabilities and provides some practical tips for working
effectively with clients. Some clients have disabilities that
may affect their cognitive capacity and present particular
issues for working with a legal practitioner. This section also
outlines some general principles and points to keep in mind when
assisting people whose disabilities do not affect their
cognitive capacity. What is a disability? There are many
different ways of defining disabilities. Generally definitions
relate to diagnostic criteria that identify the specific
disability and, in many cases, the resulting functional
limitation or impairment. However, many other definitions exist
and these are usually linked to the provision of services and
supports to individuals. For example, a typical recipient of a
disability support pension will need to demonstrate that they
have 20 per cent or more functional limitation in their daily
activities and cannot work any more than 15 hou