Spinal cord injury is a disabling disorder, worldwide spread, with important consequences on functioning and health conditions and impacts on physical, psychological, and social well-being. The consequences are related to the lesion itself and to other complications related to the lesion. In the last decades, there have been an increasing of the mean ages of onset and also an increase in life expectancy after the lesion. So, differently from the past, people with spinal cord injury can age after the lesion. Taking into account the need to share data and information about specific disabling conditions and their relationship with ageing, this paper aims to discuss some issues from recent literature on the relationship between aging and disability in the spinal cord injury, according to a narrative review approach. A narrative review of the literature on ageing and spinal cord injury was undertaken. Search was based on the following electronic databases: PubMed/Medline and Ovid/PsychINFO. A combination of the following keywords was used: (1) “ageing” or “aging” and (2) “spinal cord injury” or “spinal cord lesion” and (3) disability. Data on consequences of the lesion in the life of aging people, secondary health conditions, life expectancy, participation, and quality of life are discussed. Then, a brief discussion of clinical issues and the role of interventions aimed to promote wellbeing, health, quality of life, and participation of people with spinal cord injury is proposed.

Since the first half of the 20th century there has been an interest in the study of the relationship between autism and autistic-like clinical features and with visual impairments. Autism Spectrum disorders are one of the more worldwide-studied neurodevelopmental disorder with an increasing prevalence in the last ten years. Visual impairment is a condition which derives from several causes (genetic, constitutional, injuries, nutritional and environmental ones). Again, it is a kind of spectrum and an overarching category, because visual impairments range from refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism), to amblyopia, strabismus, and to partial and total blindness. Since the first study of Keeler (1956) which described autistic-like patterns in five preschool children who were totally blind due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a growing number of researchers addressed the relationship between autism and visual impairment. In this paper we focused on it, aiming to discuss on some lessons learned in this field and to discuss some open questions since the first research in this field.

In the last decades there has been a progressive aging of the population, known as “demographic revolution” or “demographic transition”. As a consequence of the worldwide progressive aging of population and of the increasing of general life expectancy, the relationship between aging and disability became a very important one and received a huge interest in research for its consequences on participation, inclusion and quality of life of ageing people and for its consequences on socio-sanitary organizations. The aim of this paper is to analyze this relationship and to discuss consequences on participation, inclusion and quality of life of ageing people, according to recent conceptual models of disability and active ageing. According to previous papers this relationship could be considered in two ways: ageing with disability (which refers to people living with long-term effects of disabling conditions acquired from birth to middle age) and disability with ageing (which refers to people which disabling conditions acquired later or age-related conditions), but newer papers proposed a convergence of these two approaches, taking into account the similarities and the differences between the two ways.

Over 100 years ago, Alois Alzheimer presented the clinical signs and symptoms of what has been later called “Alzheimer Dementia” in a young woman whose name was Augustine Deter [...]

In the last decades, an increasing number of researchers addressed the relationship between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and severe visual impairment (SVI) (like blindness or very low visual acuity) and nowadays autism could be considered one of the most reported coexisting developmental disorders in children with blindness or other severe visual impairment. As ASD and SVI’ signs and symptoms affect functioning and quality of life and different domains of functioning of children with this comorbidity, it is very important to support individuals and their families as soon as possible in the cycle of life and to promote specific interventions aimed to promote developmental potential of everyone with both ASD and VI, based on the unique balance between strengths, needs and abilities of everyone. Children and individuals with SVI and ASD and SVI are a very heterogeneous group, both about the areas of social interaction, communication, and behaviour, as well as about visual abilities and about all the other aspects of their neuropsychological and functional profiles that are influenced by their visual impairments itself, their ASD itself and the combination of them. In this paper, we aim to discuss some general principles useful to design and to develop specific interventions and to promote inclusion of children with ASD and SVI.