Gateway West Townhouse Association

Handicap Persons of all ages

Dealing with people who have a handicap-You may be one later on.

"Don't use demeaning terminology in dealing with those who have a handicap.
The word "handicapped" is today's buzzword to label those who have a physical disability. The word came from the Old English "cap in hand," as referring to the beggars and disabled who would sit on the city streets and beg with their cap in hand. Some people think that calling a person "handicapped" is softer and more acceptable than calling a person "crippled." I fail to see the difference.

I object to defining a person by their disability. Words like "cripple," derived from the Old English "to creep," will perpetuate false ideas. The same is true of "invalid," which means "not valid," or obvious ugly words like "abnormal" or "deformed." Some other words like disabled, lame, limping, gimpy, disabled, or even special bring to mind stereotyped images and often make people who have a disability seem less than human. Such words play upon pity and stimulate illusions of inadequacy.

I have heard people say: he is schizophrenic, he is mentally ill, he is sociopathic, or he is a cripple. Would we say he is measles, he is mumps, or he is chicken pox? We don't define people by their diseases; neither is it right to define people by their handicaps. A person may "have" a handicap but that doesn't make him a handicap. "He is handicapped" defines a person by his disability; while saying "He has a handicap" allows him to be more than "crippled."

This is a lengthy article with its website:
http://seniors-site.com/coping/handicap.html

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Dealing with the Handicap