The term disability, as it is applied to humans, refers to any condition that impedes the completion of daily tasks using traditional methods. National governments and global humanitarian agencies have narrowed this definition for their own purposes, only pledging aid to those with specific disabilities of a certain severity.

These recognized disabilities generally fall into categories: physical disabilities, which affect movement and ambulation, such as post-polio syndrome, spina bifida and cerebral palsy; sensory impairments, such as gradations of blindness and deafness; cognitive disabilities such as dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder, or Down Syndrome; and neurological/psychiatric disabilities, including epilepsy, traumatic brain injury and certain mental illnesses. "Developmental Disability" is a term applied to any condition which appeared before adulthood, and affected the individual's learning and development. In addition, a particular disability may affect multiple body systems, and produce a range of functional limitations. For example, Cerebral Palsy can impair mobility, cognitive ability, vision, and other body systems.

Historically, disabilities have often been cast in a negative light. An individual thus affected was seen as being a “patient” subject either to cure or to ongoing medical care. His condition is seen as disabling; the social reactions to it are justified, and the barriers unavoidable. This position is known as the medical model of disability .

Over the past 20 years, a competing view known as the social model of disability has come to the fore. In this model, disability is seen more as a social construction than a medical reality. An individual may be impaired by a condition that requires daily living adaptations, but the bulk of his problem - his disability - can be found in the attitudinal and physical barriers erected by society.

Both the medical and social models agree, to a point, that facilities and opportunities should be made as accessible as possible to individuals who require adaptations. Dismantling physical barriers, or setting up adaptations such as wheelchair ramps, is known as "fostering accessibility".

Contents

1 The language and terminology of disability 2 Well-known disabled people 3 See also 4 Further reading

The language and terminology of disability

Lately, the term disability has replaced the older designation handicapped. While these two designations can be used interchangeably, proponents of the social model of disability have appropriated the latter term to describe those social and economic consequences of the former. A physically or intellectually disabled individual, then, is said to be "handicapped" by the lowered expectations of society.

A person may also be "impaired" either by a correctable condition such as myopia, or by an uncorrectable one such as cerebral palsy. For those with mild conditions, related impairments disappear with the application of corrective devices. More serious impairments call for adaptive equipment.

The Person First Movement has added another layer to this discourse by asking that people with disabilities be identified first as individuals. "Person First Language" -- referring, for example, to a “woman who is blind” rather than to "a blind woman" - is a form of political correctness designed to further the aims of the social model by removing attitudinal barriers.

Some disabled people support the Person First Movement, while others do not. Deaf people in particular may see themselves as members of a specific community, properly called the Deaf culture, and so will reject efforts designed to distance them from the central fact of their identity.

Well-known disabled people

Many people with disabilities have contributed to society. These include American president Franklin Roosevelt (impaired movement as the result of polio), classical composer Ludwig von Beethoven (deaf in later years), musician Stevie Wonder (blind), Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen (lost left arm in a car accident), civil rights activist Helen Keller (deaf and blind), Stephen Hawking (who has Motor Neurone Disease and uses a wheelchair and speech synthesizer), and many others.

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: Disability

• List of disabilities
• Disability etiquette
• Architectonic barrier
• Disability Discrimination Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• Learning disability
• Human variability
• Assistive technology

Further reading

• "U. S. Counts One in 12 Children as Disabled", Washington Post, July 5, 2002