Handicapped and Disabled, Could it Be You?

You often hear people saying they are handicapped or disabled. That person may look healthy and not show any sign of having a problem, but you never know what kind of a problems they have. However if that person is disabled, then the disability should be obvious. Why, because according to the dictionary a disability is a human condition.

A person is disabled if they have a condition that impairs them from doing things that most individuals or groups can do. This may be caused by being feeble, unfit, paralyzed, crippled, too weak to care for their selves, or even incapacitated. It may be either a mental or physical impairment.

To me this means they are not able to take care of themselves and they need help in order to survive and do things that other most folks can normally do. This may encompass anyone that needs help in bathing, eating, cooking, or any other thing we take for granted in our everyday life.

So what is the is a difference between being disabled and handicapped?

I have a handicapped tag for my car, but I do not consider myself disabled, in the true sense of the word. I do walk with a cane; have a heart problem, and some other reason for having the tag. However I feel I'm more handicapped that disabled. My husband uses a walker to get around the house and a scooter when we go to the doctor, hospital or store but for the most part he takes care of his own needs.

A handicapped person, on the other hand, has certain disadvantages that make it more difficult for them to succeed in doing things they would like to accomplish. They may have problems getting around, but they still do it with a minimum amount to help from a cane, walker, or some other contrivance. That is why they call it a "handicapping" not a disability. If you think about it that is why someone is not as good at playing golf or bowling as another person has a handicap and when they talk about handicapping a horse race, they mean which horse is less capable than the other one.