Answer to Question #279478 in Philosophy for Hutchii

Question

In the past, we used the category ''handicapped'' or ''disabled'' to refer to persons with physical or psychological disabilities. Recently the category has change into ''persons with disability'' Do you think the change of label helps change our perception and treatment of them? Which among the labels enables one to neighbor to another? Which one serves as a barrier?

Answer 1

The change of label helps change our perception and treatment towards persons with disability because before the change of label the term handicapped was used to talk about a range of disadvantages that is one could be economically, socially or even morally handicapped by circumstances. With the change of label people have been able to clearly understand what these persons are and this has enabled them to treat people with disability like normal people and not as people who are economically, socially and morally faces with problems.

In most cases disability neighbor handicapped. For example, if a person has a disability that prevents them from being able to move their legs, it may result in a handicap in driving. Disabled people do not have to be handicapped, especially if they can find a way around their disability. For example, braille for the visually impaired or wheel chairs for those who cannot walk.

Disability serves as a barrier. This is because the World Health Organization (WHO) describes barriers as being more than just physical obstacles. WHO defines of barriers as factors in a person's environment that, through their absence or presence, limit functioning and create disability. The social barriers of disability include; the inability of non-disabled to see past the impairment; discrimination; fear; bullying; and low expectations of people with disabilities.