[Nfbf-l] The Interesting Origin of the Word "Handicap"

[Alan Dicey]

Dear Friends,
Here is an interesting article I stumbled across which will probably create 
as many different opinions as there are those who read it.
Let me say, I personally like to be referred to as being "Blind", that is 
now, that I am totally Blind, although I have been "Legally Blind for about 
20 years, but with that weird slowly progressive RP (Retinitis Pigmentosa) 
eye disease, well, I could see a lot for most of those years. And would say 
to folks that I was "Vision Impaired" That kept them from grabbing me and 
walking me down the hall, and such, but explained why I had to feel for the 
handle of the door when we got to the end of that hall.
Having worked for Easter Seals, one of the largest Human Services 
Organizations in the nation, the South Florida Facility in their Vocational 
Services Department for over 10 years, (which was my last job) as an 
Administrative Assistant, helping the Director of the Vocational Services 
Department, (No Blind assistance Contracts, but handling just about every 
other kind of Physical or Mentally or Intellectually Challenged assistance 
program  including Substance abuse / addiction, one can imagine) writing 
Contracts, Grants, Proposals, to the Federal, State, and County governments, 
it was so strange to see the term for Disabled People, used so differently, 
(I like the term Physically Challenged), but I believe that is just a 
personal preference, well it always amazed me to see so many terms used by 
the government agencies over that decade I was involved with those agencies. 
Even within the same government agency, there seemed to be no consensus, 
that is different teams of people within that same agency would use 
different terms when sending out "Requests for Proposals" (RPFS).
I never ceased to be amazed with it all!
With Best Regards,
God Bless,
Alan
Plantation, Florida
The Interesting Origin of the Word "Handicap"
Today I Found Out the origin of the word "handicap."
You might have heard that the word originated from disabled veterans in 
England during King Henry VII's reign (15th-16th century). Unable to make a 
living for themselves after war, they were forced to take to the streets 
with their "cap in hand," begging for coins.
King Henry VII made it legal for disabled people to beg because he didn't 
think they could hold down jobs.
Disabled individuals, therefore, became known as "handicapped."
It turns out, though, that this is not true-in fact, "handicapped" didn't 
take on the "disabled" meaning until the early 20th century.

Long before the word meant "disability," there was a game called "hand in 
cap." It was a barter/betting game that involved two people exchanging items 
and one acting as something of an arbitrator.
While there are variations of the game, the gist of it is that one person 
would claim another person's possession then offer something they thought 
was of equal value in exchange. The third would inspect the items, assign 
them value, and the one who presented the lesser-valued item also had to 
present additional coins to "equalize" the transaction.  Next, both traders 
and the arbitrator would put forfeit money into the hat.
The two traders would then put their hands into the hat.  If one or both of 
them thought the arbitrator's valuation was fair, they'd pull out their hand 
(s) with palm open.  If one or both thought it was unfair, they'd pull out 
their hand(s) in a fist.  If both individuals are in agreement, either in 
accepting the trade or rejecting it, then the arbitrator gets to keep the 
forfeit money.  If the two are in disagreement, the one who agreed to the 
transaction gets the forfeit money and the arbitrator and other individual 
gets nothing.
The game was known to be around in 1653, though it was likely developed 
before then. Slowly but surely the name was shortened- from "hand in cap," 
it became known as "hand i'cap" and finally "handicap."

The word soon gained a new meaning, too. Rather than referring to a single 
game, it started to refer to the act of equalizing other contests and games 
to make them fair. The first known instance of this was in 1754 during horse 
races; "handicap" still has this meaning in many different sports today. For 
instance, in a footrace, the person who was known to be faster than the 
others might have to start farther back than his competition. Golf, polo, 
bowling, and even pool games will sometimes assign handicaps to players, 
usually based on averages from previous games.
Handicaps were assigned to the stronger players, meaning they were being 
penalized, or weakened, to be more on par with their competition. By 1883, 
the word "handicap" started being used to mean "equalization" in many 
different areas other than sports.

Since "handicap" basically came to mean "put at a disadvantage," it was only 
a short time before it started being applied to people with a disability who 
were "at a disadvantage" physically in comparison to those without a 
disability (though of course that's relative; I wouldn't be able to beat any 
of the Paralympics runners in a race! :-))

In 1915, the term "handicapped" was applied to disabled children. By 1958, 
the word was used to describe all disabled persons-adults and children with 
physical or mental disabilities.

In recent years, the term "handicapped" has been used less and less. It 
carries some negative connotations with it; in fact, it's included in one 
list of the "top ten worst words" to call disabled people, right up there 
with better known negative words like "retard" and "cripple."
(Interestingly, the term "retarded" was originally used to replace the terms 
"idiot," "moron," and "imbecile" due to the fact that these terms gradually 
became thought of as derogatory.  This obviously only worked for a while and 
now "retarded" is also considered a derogatory term.)

To underline this negative association of "handicap", Damon Rose, editor of 
the BBC disability website, wrote:
'Handicapped' is a word which many disabled people consider to be the 
equivalent of 'nigger'. It evokes thoughts of being held back, not in the 
race, not as good, weighed down by something so awful we ought not to speak 
of it.

That said, "handicapped" is not universally offensive; while many disabled 
people do take offense, many others don't care if it's used, and some even 
prefer it. (Of course, "disabled" is seen by some as a negative word, too, 
with some people preferring "less abled.")

There has also been some attempt to "take back" the word "cripple" and use 
it in a positive sense, such as with the talented comedian, and sufferer of 
Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, Ally Bruener and her "I laughed at the 
crippled girl" comedy act; her definition of "crippled" being: "Something so 
awesome, it's debilitating. Opposite of 'lame'."
Bonus Facts:
The International Symbol of Accessibility, that white stick figure in a 
wheel chair on a blue background, was developed in 1969. It was borne of a 
contest held by the International Commission on Technology and 
Accessibility, which was won by Susanne Kofoed of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kofoed's original design didn't include a head (probably because she was 
trying to keep the figure unisex) so it wasn't used right away; but once the 
head was added, it became quite popular. The Commission chose the blue 
background simply because it provided a nice contrast with the white stick 
figure, making the symbol easily visible on all kinds of surfaces. That 
said, the little stick figure might change some time in the future, as some 
parties are arguing that not all disabled people use a wheel chair and the 
figure needs to be more representative of other disabilities.
"Cap in hand" actually refers to taking one's hat off as a sign of respect, 
such as when listening to the national anthem or entering a building. This 
has been a custom since 1565, when people took their "caps in hand" to show 
subservience to a judge. The phrase eventually took on the meaning "to 
humbly seek a favour." It is still in use today, such as when referring to 
asking a boss for a raise, "cap in hand."
- - -

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