# Disabled or handicapped or ??? Which terms should be used?



## mark handler (May 5, 2013)

Though individuals who have disabilities use a variety of terms to refer to themselves, as an agency we must ensure that we use terminology that complies with legal direction and is considered acceptable by the majority of people. With these points in mind, the following guidance is offered.

The two terms most commonly used to describe a person who has a limitation are "handicapped" and "disabled."

A disability is the result of a medically definable condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.

A handicap is a barrier or circumstance that makes progress or success difficult, such as an impassable flight of stairs or a negative attitude toward a person who has a disability.

The correct term is "disability"—a person with a disability. Person-first terminology is used because the person is more important than his or her disability.

Examples of person-first terminology:

" the person who is blind"—not the blind person

" the person who uses a wheelchair"—not the wheelchair person

"wheelchair user" - not wheelchair bound.

It is also important to understand that there are negative connotations to the term "handicapped" when referring to a person who has a disability. The word has been around for centuries, but was not used to refer to people with disabilities until the late 1800s. Many people believe that the term "handicapped" was first used in relation to individuals who have disabilities when Civil War veterans whose injuries prevented them from working were begging on the streets with "cap in hand." Standard references do not support this story. But because the story has become legend and begging for a living is degrading, describing people with disabilities as "handicapped" is offensive.

In 1992, when Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was renewed and amended, one of the amendments was to correct terminology. Recognizing the negative impact of certain terms, the word "handicapped" was replaced with the phrase "persons with disabilities."

Also in 1992, Federal agencies were directed to correct terminology in their regulations, policies, and other documents. So when you participate in updating policies, the Forest Service Handbook or Manual, guidelines for the agency, direction to the field, or have input into other documents, please use the opportunity to correct the term "handicapped" and other references to persons with disabilities that do not place the person first.

Accessible means in compliance with the Federal accessibility guidelines and standards. Accessible sites and facilities do not contain barriers limiting their use by people with disabilities.

A site, facility, or program is accessible, or it is not accessible. The only way to evaluate accessibility is by using the legal standards and guidelines.

There are no shades of accessibility, a parking space either meets the requirements and is accessible or it does not meet the requirements and is not accessible. The specific surfacing, slope, size, and walkway connection requirements must be met, regardless of the conditions around the parking space. A building is accessible or it is not accessicle, "Almost" doesn't count.


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## Msradell (May 5, 2013)

I personally have a disability that prevents me from doing many things.  Unlike many others, I really don't care if you call me disabled or handicapped, what difference does it make?  As long as businesses realize what accommodations they have to make in order to make their facility accessible, I don't believe many people care what terminology is used.  These days the world spends too much time making sure everything is Politically Correct instead of correcting real problems.

I certainly do agree with your last paragraph.  Accessibility is certainly a black-and-white issue, there are no gray areas in between.  Many people try to make things "almost" right, according to the standards, but as you point out that doesn't count!

The world needs to spend more time correcting the problems instead of figuring out the correct way to talk about them.


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## mark handler (May 5, 2013)

Msradell said:
			
		

> I really don't care if you call me disabled or handicapped, what difference does it make?


What difference does it make? Many feel the term is offensive, like the N word or spic, Kike or Mick

Many friends that are disabled refer to themselves as gimps

Just a side note; any sign that contains the word "Handicap" is not ADA compliant


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## Msradell (May 7, 2013)

How about these: ADA Handicapped Reserved Parking Sign - Strong Aluminum, SKU: K-1435

Many more here: Handicap Parking Signs | Handicapped Parking Signs | Disabled Sign


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## Msradell (May 7, 2013)

mark handler said:
			
		

> What difference does it make? Many feel the term is offensive, like the N word or spic, Kike or MickMany friends that are disabled refer to themselves as gimps


If they feel that handicapped is an offensive term then they've got more problems than that!  Now, as for the word gimp, I would certainly consider that offensive.  I think to state things correctly, you would actually say that you were handicapped because of your disability.


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## mark handler (May 7, 2013)

Msradell said:
			
		

> How about these: ADA Handicapped Reserved Parking Sign - Strong Aluminum, SKU: K-1435Many more here: Handicap Parking Signs | Handicapped Parking Signs | Disabled Sign


*Not* ADA compliant


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## fatboy (May 7, 2013)

I grew up with a cousin that was severely mentally and physically "retarded" from birth, which was how we spoke to it in the day. Do I say that now? Absolutely not......  Is he challenged? Yup every single day. I guess if I have to label it, he is handicapped, and would definitively need accessibility standards to accommodate his visit to any public facility. And I think about him every time someone says that that they don't need to have accessible facilities.  BTW, his favorite restaurant is McD's


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## Yikes (May 7, 2013)

My problem is when I have to communicate ideas to the 90% of lay people who haven't yet learned the politically correct terminology.  Try describing the code difference between an "Exit Access" vs. an "Accessible Exit", or a "Parking Access Aisle"...  it's like listening to "Who's On First".  The word "access" has so many other meanings, that the conversation gets stuck until I eventully give up, and use the word handicap, and finally the light bulb goes on.  Ten I have to explain why I don't use the word handicap, even though that's what it took to make them understand.

I've tried using the term "wheelchair user" or "wheelchair accessible", and that's partially helpful, but it inevitably gives the lay person a narrow concept of accessiblity, and I have to explain the additional accessiblity requirements for cane users, vision and hearing impairments, etc.


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## Yikes (May 7, 2013)

On the other hand, there's Mark's post with the news story about "Ms. Wheelchair - South Dakota", which I assume is meant to be an empowering label.


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## mtlogcabin (May 7, 2013)

*  DISABLED  *  , pp. Deprived of competent power, corporeal or intellectual; rendered incapable; deprived of means.

* ACCESS'IBLE*,   a.

1.  That may be approached or reached; approachable; applied to things; as an accessible town or mountain.2.  Easy of approach, affable, used of personsIs it the person who has been rendered incapable that makes something un-accessible or maybe a combination of both? I agree with Yikes when I am trying to explain accessibility requirements to the majority of people it is almost impossible if you stick to the PC terms.


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## Msradell (May 8, 2013)

I didn't know that the United States had language police, like France does.  Who determines what terms are politically correct and which ones aren't?  Nobody that I know who has a disability minds being called handicapped.  What we mind is not being given accessible access to every place.  I venture to say I'm the only one who is participating in this conversation that is confined to a wheelchair, so take that however you want.


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## mtlogcabin (May 8, 2013)

I don't like the PC crowd and that is why I like Webster's 1828 dictionary for definitions.



> What we mind is not being given accessible access to every place


 I agree this should never happen in any building built after 1995 but I do think it is unrealistic to believe all the buildings built prior to 1995 will be accessible to all with disabilities.


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## Yikes (May 8, 2013)

Back to another part of Mark's original point, that there is no such thing as "almost" accessible:Agree, and yet disagree, depending on the situation and the semantics.

For example, I may have a historic building where the AHJ has made a finding of equivalent facilitation and/or unreasonable hardship, allowing some nonconforming feature to exist that would not normally exist on a conventional new building.

Is it conforming with the typical standard detail?  No.

Does it meet code?  Yes.

Can the owner then say that the facility is "accessible per code", even though it doesn't look like the standards in the code? Yes.

If I tried to explain this to my clients, then have them repeat it back to me, I'm sure that 90% of them would consider that to be "shades of accessibility", or "almost accessible".


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## Yikes (May 8, 2013)

Just this afternoon I said these two sentences on a plan check:

"The access panel does not have to be accessible." (Referring to a door over a smoke damper).

"The firefighter access gate is not accessible."  (Referring to a normally padlocked, non-exit gate in a wrought iron fence facing the street.)


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## mark handler (Jul 6, 2013)

Respectful Disability Language

Respectful Disability Language — Mobility International USA - MIUSA

A guide for using appropriate disability language and terminology.

"The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."

- Mark Twain

What does "Respectful Disability Language" Mean?

The Disability Rights Movement advocates for positive changes in society. These changes include equal rights under the law and equal access to housing and employment.  It could also mean improving how people with disabilities are talked about in places like the media or in everyday conversations. The use of language and words describing people with disabilities has changed over time.  It's important that people are aware of the meaning behind the words they use when talking to, referring to, or working with the Disability Community.  Disrespectful language can make people feel excluded and can be a barrier to full participation.  This is a guide to using respectful words and language.

When does Language = Power?

Imagine living your whole life always having to explain why the words that people use are hurtful and offensive to you.  Teachers, co-workers, friends, and family need to know how the words and phrases they use make you feel.  Many of us are brought up in homes in which we are the only one with a disability.  Maybe we haven't learned to think of ourselves or other people with disabilities as proud individuals.  People with disabilities want respect and acceptance.

Many people who do not have a disability now will have one in the future.  Others will have a family member or a friend who will become disabled.  If you become disabled in your lifetime, how do you want people to describe you?  If a family member or friend becomes disabled, how would you want him/her to be treated?  Disability affects all people.  So learn respectful language and teach others.

General Guidelines for Talking about Disability

Refer to a person's disability only when it is related to what you are talking about.  For example, don't ask "What's wrong with you?"  Don't refer to people in general or generic terms such as "the girl in the wheelchair."

When talking about places with accommodations for people with disabilities, use the term "accessible" rather than "disabled" or "handicapped."  For example, refer to an "accessible" parking space rather than a "disabled" or "handicapped" parking space or "an accessible bathroom stall" rather than "a handicapped bathroom stall."

Use the term "disability," and take the following terms out of your vocabulary when talking about or talking to people with disabilities.  Don't use the terms "handicapped," "differently-abled," "cripple/crippled," "retarded," "poor," "unfortunate," or "special needs." Don't say "victim of," "suffering from," or "stricken with" a disability; instead, say the person "has a disability."

More at Respectful Disability Language — Mobility International USA - MIUSA


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## peach (Jul 7, 2013)

avoid the terminology and embrace the concept.. my son is hearing impaired and since the age of 18 months (and to his current 26 years) will turn off his hearing aids when he's tired of listening.. (when I saw his little tiny hand reaching for the volume control on the aids, I realized it was going to be a challenge)...

"IT" is what the receiver thinks it is.  That's why ADA is not incorporated in the construction code.


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## Yikes (Jul 27, 2013)

OK, I have a serious question, so don't laugh.  When you are talking with someone about framing, do you get uncomfortable using the term "cripple wall"?  I know we're talking about wood, not people, but it still feels odd to use that term.  Do you have a suggested alternate?


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## conarb (Jul 27, 2013)

I heard a Canadian guy being interviewed on CBC (like our NPR but less radical) today, he referred to himself as" fat and wheelchair-bound", said he worked in the "Disability Industry" traveling around giving lectures etc.  Made me wonder if some here are in the "Disability Industry"


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## Uncle Bob (Jul 27, 2013)

Welcome to Oceania.  I was wondering when the "Thought Police" would arrive on this forum.  Now we are being ordered to "think correctly"; and, our thoughts are monitored by the language we use or how we use it; at a time when the literacy rate in this country is at an all-time low and spiraling down.  The term "Thought Police", by extension, has come to refer to real or perceived enforcement of ideological correctness (for illiterates, that means to control your thoughts by controlling the language you use).  (Crap, still can't make a paragraph in here with this computer).  Several years ago my brother-in-law put in for a civil service job at Fort Hood, Texas (he lost a leg from the knee down) and they wouldn't accommodate his "handicap" or whatever you want to call it.  My sister asked me over to see if I could help.  I asked Rick if he told them about the lose of his leg and he said "no, didn't want to be considered handicapped".  I told him to go back, take his prosthesis off and put it on their desk, tell them he was a "cripple" and ask for the job (as many of you will, my sister objected to the term cripple).  He did and he got the job.  By the way, he obtained a black belt in Karate with his prosthesis (artificial leg).  Notice that Rick was not upset that I used the term "cripple"; my sister was.  If Rick had been upset, I would probably be typing this with a prosthetic hand.  Of course, I will lose this argument because most people have been sensitized to embrace the idea that it's not politically correct to be educated; it's politically correct to be overly sensitive.  If you don't agree, go learn ebonics or some other illiterate crap.  Ok, that woke me up this morning; how's your day fellow proles?  Uncle Bob


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## conarb (Jul 27, 2013)

Well Uncle Bob, since you are quoting Orwell in "1984" why not "Animals Farm"?



			
				Cultural Dictionary said:
			
		

> *Cultural Dictionary* *All **animals* *are** equal, **but** some animals are more equal than others definition *
> 
> A proclamation by the pigs who control the government in the novel _Animal Farm_, by George Orwell. The sentence is a comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite.¹


Since you inspectors have become the "green police" why not the "thought police" in this dystopian society we live in?  By creating the legal fiction of Suspect  Classes we are legally forced to give preferential treatment to certain classes of people legally deemed unequal.

¹ All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others | Define All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others at Dictionary.com


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## Uncle Bob (Jul 29, 2013)

Conarb,  I agree to some extent, but I was using allegorys to make a point.  In order to control the way we think, we are being forced to use politically correct language.  Another example would be that in some school districts, teachers are not allowed to use the color red when grading bad papers because it is considered to be demeaning and hurts the student's self-esteem.


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## Yikes (Jul 29, 2013)

UB, I realize that "cripple wall" is a code-defined term that occurs many times in the IRC.  It just feels odd to use the term in one context during plan check, but go to great lengths to avoid it in other contexts during plan check.

In th case of your brother in law, it's probably the empowerment kind of thing where you have the freedom to self-identify in an edgy way that others can't / won't.  Kind of like African-American rappers referring to themsleves with the n-word.  They can do it; you can't.


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## JPohling (Jul 29, 2013)

I always use "disabled"  and have never had any issues whatsoever.


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## Yikes (Jul 31, 2013)

JPohling said:
			
		

> I always use "disabled"  and have never had any issues whatsoever.


Our California Dept. of motor Vehicles uses the term "Disabled Person" all over the place ( http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg195.pdf ), even though that term has been expunged from our parking signage in favor of "persons with disabilities".

The intials are on every DP's license plate or placard:  View from the Handicapped Space: Disabled Parking Placards: Everything You Want to Know. Or Should.


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## peach (Aug 1, 2013)

Disabled is a safe term.. my son is hearing impaired (and therefor disabled).

i say hearing impaired. he says deaf.

I don't say deaf..


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## Francis Vineyard (Aug 1, 2013)

Peach, do you wash his hands when he swears?

Francis


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## Francis Vineyard (Aug 2, 2013)

I think Mark's post of the ADA Federal guidelines asked if it was accurate but then the topic change about being politically correct as expected. The problem is you cannot satisfy everyone, so we compromise. Take the required International Symbol of Accessibility; hopefully we won't get the point of a symbol for every type of disability.

I find it best to say the truth in facts. A person that use crutches, walkers, strollers, wheelchairs, hearing aids, signages, canes, etc..

When I go out to do inspections the person I'm meeting with walks in front of me and I sense he's talking; I stop and announce I'm a lip reader; "Oh, okay" then proceeds to talk while walking in front of me! Who's impaired? If you call my office the recording says to email or call the front desk. An architect comes in to suggest I get CapTel as his wife does; who's disabled?

At the end of the day, people would rather have two legs, arms, eyes, ears, brain functions, etc., that functions 100%. How we encourage and accommodate matters more than words. Personally when it comes to telling it like it is; I think kids to a better job before they are brainwashed to being subjects.

Now off my soap box to wash my hands in case I offended someone with another observation;

A while back I sat in the reception area of my doctor’s office, a woman rolled an elderly man in a wheelchair into the room. As she went to the receptionist’s desk, the man sat there, alone and silent. Just as I was thinking I should make small talk with him, a little boy slipped off his mother’s lap and walked over to the wheelchair. Placing his hand on the man’s, he said, “I know how you feel. My Mom makes me ride in the stroller too.”

Francis


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