Disability
Causes
Handicapped Handicap has been disparaged as a result of false folk etymology that claims it is a reference to begging. The term is actually derived from an old game, Hand-i'-cap, in which two players trade possessions and a third, neutral person judges the difference of value between the possessions. The concept of a neutral person evening up the odds was extended to handicap racing in the mid-18th century. In handicap racing, horses carry different weights based on the umpire's estimation of what would make them run equally. The use of the term to describe a person with a disability – by extension from handicap racing, a person carrying a heavier burden than normal – appeared in the early 20th century. Access The ability to go places and do things. People with certain types of disabilities struggle to get equal access to some things in society. For example, a blind person cannot read printed paper voting ballots, and therefore does not have access to voting that requires paper ballots. Accommodation A change that improves access. For example, if voting ballots are available in Braille or on a text-to-speech machine, or if another person reads the ballot to the blind person and recorded the choices, then the blind person would have access to voting. There are many different causes of disability that often affect basic activities of daily living, such as eating, dressing, transferring, and maintaining personal hygiene; or advanced activities of daily living such as shopping, food preparation, driving, or working.
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