Besser ist "physically challenged" - das ist der gerade aktuelle Euphemismus.

"Handicapped" ist heutzutage nicht mehr hundertprozentig PC, ich würde daher an deiner Stelle "disabled" schreiben. "People with disabilities" ist noch ein Stückchen besser als "disabled people".

"physically challenged" is too PC. I would stick with "the disabled" without "people".

I disagree with Kate about dropping the "people" and just saying "the disabled"

"people with disabilities" is an accepted PC term without being over the top

Have a look in the archives tho' - this has been discussed frequently.

With respect to your original question about the difference, the WHO definitions of "handicap" and "disbility" might help:

"Disability - "Any restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being." Here we are talking about things people cannot do.

Handicap - "A disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or disability, that limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role (depending on age, sex and social and cultural factors) for that individual." This is in relation to a particular environment and relationships with other people.

Impairment: "Any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure or function"
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/advice/stylebook/d...
HTH

Agree with Marc.
Physically/ mentally challanged is being increasingly used in India as well.

I agree with Claire and Marianne: "people with disabilities".

I agree with Claire and Marianne: "people with disabilities".

Marianne, could you kindly give us the most typical examples for the three definitions, please?
(I'm thinking of well-known ones, like speech impairment and lesser-known ones, like sight impairment, and does the latter include blind people?)
Thank you!

@ Daddy
--> Marianne, could you kindly give us the most typical examples for the three definitions, please?
(I'm thinking of well-known ones, like speech impairment and lesser-known ones, like sight impairment, and does the latter include blind people?)
Thank you! <--


I can think of the hearing impaired, speech impaired (as Marianne has already mentioned), impaired vision (partial and total blindness).
I even read of this one in the Reader's Digest, orientation impaired, for eg. dyslexic!

I head a very interesting twist today morning.
My neighbour was in his yard building a tree house.
His wife said something to him, which i couldn't catch, but he replied, "I am handicapped honey, I forgot my glasses!"

:)

Will I be handicapped momentarily if for eg. I am asked to write and don't have a pen?
Is this usage OK?

(Sorry for the multiple entries. The next idea flashes after I click 'send'.)

minu, I wasn't asking for completeness, just for the most typical ones for
impaired, disabled, handicapped (and a clarification of the ambigious) . . .

@minu: My feeling is that you are handicapped if there are other people about you doing the same thing who do have pens.

Ok, Daddy.


@ Kay
Could you please explain that please?

minu, I take it that Kay was pointing out, that not having a pen/pencil (when you need one) while others around you have, you are handicapped . . .

@minu: I've tried, and have deleted several lines of text a couple of times. Sorry, it's fuzzy. What you need is more input from other native speakers on whether it's OK or when it could be OK, I fear.
Here's a confused attempt nonetheless: "handicapped" implies some sort of comparison with others. If you're not talking about a disability, which implies a comparison with the able-bodied, you need people with pens around to make the comparison clear.
Am not sure about this.

@ Kay

You are saying the same thing as Daddy (thanks Daddy for the simplification). But in a complicated way. But nonetheless I get what you're trying to tell me.
Thanks.
I understood.

:)

It is all a matter of context. There was a great campaign in Austria for a while (by Caritas, I think) with the slogan "Behindert ist, wer behindert wird", which kind of reflects the difference between a handicap and a disabilitiy. It tries to make the point that if we create an environment in which people with disabilities can lead a more normal life, we reduce their "disability". Also, that we can all be "disabled" in areas in which we are at a disadvantage for one reason or another. "Handicap" is sometimes used to mean a disadvantage in general (in sports, for example), so it can be more general than "disability".

I really like Claire's explanation.

Disabled is a perfectly acceptable term in the UK. It is the term that organisations such as the British Council of Disabled People use. Politically correct phrases like 'physically challenged' are patronising more than anything.

Hope that helps.

Daddy - You were asking for some typical examples:

Her son is disabled and uses a wheelchair.

People with disabilities are sometimes given preference in hiring in government jobs.

The soldier was psychologically disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder after he returned from Iraq.

Certain State and Federal laws have been enacted to protect the disabled from employment discrimination.

His uncle was handicapped and used a wheelchair. (Less common nowadays because handicapped has become less PC (politically correct).)

I am handicapped by this tiny keyboard on my computer.

People with an impairment such as ADD (attention deficit disorder) can be allowed additional time to finish the test.

People with impaired vision cannot safely drive at night.

also diese Euphemismen sind schon immer wieder erstaunlich. Was ist dann ein Blinder? Visually challenged? Oder ein Tauber?

Ich war in der Schule immer mathematically challanged:-)

Diese "challenged"-Wendungen finde ich auch zu blöd. Dicke Leute sind dann ganz tongueincheekPC als "horizontally challenged" zu beschreiben...

Freut mich zu lesen, dass "disabled" ein akzeptabler Ausdruck ist.
"Behindert" wird ja leider vor allem von Kindern und Jugendlichen gern als Schimpfwort gebraucht, aber was soll man sonst verwenden im Deutschen?

Menschen mit besonderen Bedürfnissen ist der politisch korrekte Ausdruck glaub ich

Ist "handicapped" tatsächlich nicht mehr pc?

Vor einigen Jahren stand in den Bussen in Miami noch "please offer your seat to elderly and handicapped" - oder so ähnlich...

Special needs fällt mir dazu ein. Wenn man gern Euphemismen verwendet...

"Handicapped" ist definitiv nicht mehr PC. Ich würde wahrscheinlich "disabled" nehmen, obwohl das auch schon gefährlich sein kann. Ich Schulen ist das "Special Needs" (von Legasthenie über Autismus bis Down-Syndrom). Ansonsten habe ich schon oft die Begriffe "physically/mentally etc challenged" (s.o.) gehört, und außerdem auch "lesser abled"

Ich glaub fuer Deutsche hoert sich das ganz schoen witzig an.
"Challenged" würde ich immer mit herausgefordert übersetzen.
Das mit den Behinderten käme erst sehr viel später.

Und in Kombination, visual cahllenged, ist es sogar noch ein ganz schoen diskriminierender Witz.

Ich würde mich wie oben schon angesprochen nach dem richten was eine große internationale Organisation wie die WHO benutzt. Die benutzen das täglich und bewegen sich auf dem dünnen Eis der Diplomatie. Daher kann man einen dort verwendeten Begriff als politisch korrekt bezeichnen. Auch ist die WHO kein Interessenverband, der versucht durch die Wahl des Ausdruckes eine bestimmte Richtung vorzugeben.

Da ich hin und wieder mit Behinderten Urlaub mache, hier meine Ansicht: Zumindest unter europäischen Behinderten noch nie etwas anderes als disabled gehört.

@chris: Den Begriff „Blind“ fand ich schon immer etwas fantasielos. Wie wäre es mit schweräugig?

@Uri: Dann sag doch lieber schwersichtig. Man sagt ja auch nicht schwerohrig :-)

Was die PC im Deutschen angeht: In Kindergärten sagt man gerne 'Kinder mit Handicap', was wohl eher auf eine verbale Abschwächung der gemeinten Einschränkung durch die Verwendung eines Fremdwortes abzielt. Man möchte ja Eltern behinderter Kinder nicht ständig unter die Nase reiben, was ihr Kind alles (noch) nicht kann.