Disabled adult struggling with item (9)
I believe the answer is:
mutilated
'disabled' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'adult struggling with item' is the wordplay.
'struggling with' indicates anagramming the letters (the letters struggle or wriggle into a new form).
'adult' with its letters mixed up with 'item' makes 'MUTILATED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for mutilated that I've seen is " Mangled".)