Handicapped, [han-dee-kapt], adjective

In my opinion, the word “handicapped” has become too inclusive... 

My research found that the origin of “handicapped” can be described in two different ways:

1).  During 1920-1915, the word “handicapped” was formed during the reign of King Henry VII. It described veterans coming back from war who were unable to make a living for themselves and, therefore, had to take to begging in the streets for coins with their “cap in hand”.  King Henry VII was concerned that the veterans couldn’t hold down jobs so he made it legal for them to beg in the streets. Disabled people became known as “handicapped”. (www.todayifoundout.com; Emily Upton, December 10, 2013)

2).  In 1653, there was a popular game called “hand-in-cap”.  A barter game, in which the ending produced an ‘evening of the playing field’ by making the stronger player bear a ‘penalty’.  One example of its’ use was in horse racing where the stronger horse was penalized by carrying extra weight in the race to equalize the field.  Over time, the name of the game became shortened to “hand i’cap” and then to “handicapped”.  It then made the jump to ‘imposed pediment’, and then just ‘impediment’.  Over time, it was no longer associated with gaming, and instead it came to mean a ‘physical limitation’ referring to its ‘impediment’ meaning.  In 1883, the term became associated with the larger concept of equalization, and In 1915, it was applied to crippled children.  By the 1950’s, ‘handicapped’ was broadened to include adults and the mentally challenged. At no point did the game ‘cap in hand’ appear in the word’s history.

Today, the words ‘crippled’, ’handicapped’ and even ‘physically challenged’ are considered, to  many ‘disabled’ to be offensive.  

“While ‘cripple’ and ‘crippled’ traditionally denoted permanent impairments of one or more limbs, disabled is a broader, more comprehensive word that can refer to many different kinds of physical or mental impairments, whether temporary or permanent.”  (crippled. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 06, 2016 from Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/crippled)

In the above quotation, the fact that "disabled is a broader, more comprehensive word" is exactly what I’m talking about.  While the word ‘disabled’ and ‘handicapped’ are valid terms, and definitely needed, the original meaning of the word and of who it’s geared towards has been all but lost.  And then the mentally challenged are included in the definition (which, historically they were and should be) the wheelchair user has been squeezed out.  While I completely agree with the broader terms, I believe a new category needs to be birthed to only reference those disabled who are ‘in a wheelchair’.

Wheelchair handicapped individuals need more specified accessibility.  For example, many of the ‘wheelchair accessible’ toilet stalls are barely big enough squeeze a chair into and be able to close the door, let alone to actually make your way onto the toilet.  I can manage it because I have one good leg.  What about someone who is even more limited than I am?  And then, when you manage to eek your way out of the stall, the sink is way too high, the paper towels are half-way up the wall and forget about looking in the mirror!  And don’t get me started on restaurants.  They have great aisles around the perimeter but if you want to hone in on a table/booth you’ll have to move chairs, and sometimes tables out of your way.

It is in these types of details that “handicapped”, even though the universal symbol is a person in a w-h-e-e-l-c-h-a-i-r, no longer caters well to those actual people in an actual wheelchair.

I’m just sayin’…