handicap vs disability :

handicap or disability

In normal usage, a handicap is a drawback you can easily remedy, but a disability is much worse: you’re just unable to do something. But many people with disabilities and those who work with them strongly prefer “disability” to “handicap,” which they consider an insulting term. Their argument is that a disability can be compensated for by—for instance— a wheelchair, so that the disabled person is not handicapped. Only the person truly unable by any means to accomplish tasks because of a disability is handicapped. The fact that this goes directly counter to ordinary English usage may help to explain why the general public has been slow to adopt it; but if you want to avoid offending anyone, you’re safer using “disability” than “handicap.”Many of the people involved also resent being called “disabled people”; they prefer “people with disabilities.”

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Definitions

  • n  the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness
  • n  advantage given to a competitor to equalize chances of winning
  • n  something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress
  • v  injure permanently
  • v  attempt to forecast the winner (especially in a horse race) and assign odds for or against a contestant
  • v  put at a disadvantage

  • n  the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness
    reading disability
News & Articles

  • SCOTT COLUMN: Re-emergence of Fort Larned, Paynter good news for handicap division
    The handicap division received a much-needed boost this past weekend with the decisive “comeback” victories by Fort Larned and Paynter.
    June 18, 2013 - The Saratogian
  • Grant may yield handicap improvements in Dillonvale
    PERMANENT handicap improvements at the Dillonvale Municipal Building might be made with the help of a grant before the November election, according to discussion at a recent village council meeting.
    June 17, 2013 - The Times Leader
  • Jebrica rallies to victory in Budweiser Handicap | Emerald Downs
    Jebrica rallied boldly and notched a three-quarter-length victory over Stryker Phd in the $50,000 Budweiser Handicap for 3-year-olds and up Sunday before a packed house on Father’s Day at Emerald Downs. Defending champion Winning Machine finished third and Why Not Be Perfect was fourth. Makors Finale and Hoist, co-favored at 5-to-2 in the wagering, weakened to finish fifth and sixth respectively ...
    June 17, 2013 - Auburn Reporter