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From: Joe.Chamberlain@f140.n150.z1.fidonet.org (Joe Chamberlain)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Terminology
Message-ID: <13698@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 25 Aug 90 04:32:13 GMT
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Index Number: 9982

[This is from the Spinal Injury Conference]

 AB> a building, would you say "there is a handicapped person unable to 
 AB> find a ramp"?  Or would you say "there is a person with a disability 
 AB> who is handicapped by an inaccessible building"?

        O.K.  Let's be real.

        There's an old lady out here who needs help.

        There's a guy with a broken leg who needs help.

        There's a blind girl...

        The descriptive word is place where it feels most
comfortable to the speaker.  The receiver of the assistance
probably doesn't care one way or the other, just as long as they
get some help.

        It's questions like this that cause the handicapped
 to feel more different than they really are.   In addition, it
serves no purpose at the time to complain about the building when
you're trying to get to a meeting.  The accessibility should have
been checked beforehand and action taken to avoid situations
inaccessibility presents.

                                -=joe=-

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