Activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.

An individual may also qualify as disabled if he/she has had an impairment in the past or is seen as disabled based on a personal or group standard or norm. Such impairments may include physical,sensory, and cognitive or developmental disabilities. Mental disorders (also known as psychiatric or psychosocial disability) and various types of chronic disease may also qualify as disabilities.

Some advocates object to describing certain conditions (notably deafness and autism) as "disabilities", arguing that it is more appropriate to consider them developmental differences that have been unfairly stigmatized by society.
A disability may occur during a person's lifetime or may be present from birth.

"Handicap"
Some people with disabilities do not like the term "handicap" because of a belief that it originally meant someone who could not work and went begging with their cap in hand. This, however is not the true origin of the word. It originated in a lottery game known as hand-in-cap in the  17th century which involved players placing money in a cap. It moved later into horse racing where it meant

The American Psychological Association style guide states that, when identifying a person with an impairment, the person's name or pronoun should come first, and descriptions of the impairment/disability should be used so that the impairment  is identified, but is not modifying the person. Improper examples are "a borderline", "a blind person", or "an autistic boy"; more acceptable terminology includes "a woman with Down syndrome" or "a man who has schizophrenia". It also states that a person's adaptive equipment should be described functionally as something that assists a person, not as something that limits a person, e.g. "a woman who uses a wheelchair" rather than "a woman in/confined to a wheelchair."
A similar kind of "people-first" terminology is also used in the UK, but more often in the form "people with impairments" (e.g. "people with visual impairments"). However, in the UK, the term "disabled people" is generally preferred to "people with disabilities". It is argued under the social modl that while someone's impairment (e.g. having a spinal cord injury) is an individual property, "disability" is something created by external societal factors such as a lack of wheelchair access to the workplace. This distinction between the individual property of impairment and the social property of disability is central to the social model. The term "disabled people" as a political construction is also widely used by international organisations of disabled people, such as Disabled Peoples' International (DPI).

According to author Daniel J. Wilson, the characteristics of masculinity include strength, activeness, speed, endurance, and courage. These  characteristics are often challenged when faced with a disability and the boy or man must reshape what it means to be masculine. For example, rather than define "being a man" through what one can physically do, one must re-define it by how one faces the world with a disability and all the obstacles and stereotypes that come with the disability.
In Leonard Kriegel's book, Flying Solo, he describes his fight with poliomyelitis and the process of accepting his disability in a world that values able-bodiedness. He writes, "I had to learn to be my own hero, my own role model – which is another way of saying that I had to learn to live with neither heroes nor role models" (pg. 40).

Some note that women who are disabled face what is called a "double disability", meaning they must not only deal with the stereotypes and challenges posed by femininity, but they must also deal with those posed by being disabled.  Culture also tends to view women as fragile and weaker than men, stereotypes which are only heightened when a woman has a disability.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), produced by the World Health Organization, distinguishes between body functions (physiological or psychological, e.g. vision) and body structures (anatomical parts, e.g. the eye and related structures). Impairment in bodily structure or function is defined as involving an anomaly, defect, loss or other significant deviation from certain generally accepted population standards, which may fluctuate over time. Activity is defined as the execution of a task or action. The ICF lists 9 broad domains of functioning which can be affected:

In concert with disability scholars, the introduction to the ICF states that a variety of conceptual models has been proposed to understand and explain disability and functioning, which it seeks to integrate. These models include the following:

The medical model is presented as viewing disability as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma, or other health condition which therefore requires sustained medical care provided in the form of individual treatment by professionals. In the medical model, management of the disability is aimed at a "cure," or the individual’s adjustment and behavioral change that would lead to an "almost-cure" or effective cure. In the medical model, medical care is viewed as the main issue, and at the political level, the principal response is that of modifying or reforming healthcare policy.

The social model of disability sees the issue of "disability" as a socially created problem and a matter of the full integration of individuals into society (see Inclusion (disability rights)). In this model, disability is not an attribute of an individual, but rather a complex collection of conditions, many of which are created by the social environment. Hence, the management of the problem requires social action and it is the collective responsibility of society at large to make the environmental modifications necessary for the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of social life. The issue is both cultural and ideological, requiring individual, community, and large-scale social change. From this perspective, equal access for someone with an impairment/disability is a human rights issue of major concern.

Assistive Technology is a generic term for devices and modifications (for a person or within a society) that help overcome or remove a disability. The first recorded example of the use of a prosthesis dates to at least 1800 BC. The wheechair dates from the 17th century. The curb cut is a related structural innovation. Other examples are standing frames, text telephones, accessible keyboards, large print, Braille, & speech recognition computer software. People with disabilities often develop personal or community adaptations, such as strategies to suppress tics in public (for example in Tourette's syndrome), or sign language in deaf communities. Assistive technology or interventions are sometimes controversial or rejected, for example in the controversy over cochlear implants for children.


As the personal computer has become more ubiquitous, various organizations have formed to develop software and hardware to make computers more accessible for people with disabilities. Some software and hardware, such as Voice Finger, SmartboxAT's The Grid,Freedom Scientific's JAWS, the Free and Open Source alternative Orca etc. have been specifically designed for people with disabilities while other software and hardware, such as Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking, were not developed specifically for people with disabilities, but can be used to increase accessibility.[citation needed] The LOMAK keyboard was designed in New Zealand specifically for persons with disabilities.[citation needed] The Internet is also used by disability activists and charities to network and further their goals. Organizations, such as AbilityNet and U Can Do IT in the US, provide assessment services that determine which assistive technologies will best assist an individual client. These organizations also train disabled people in how to use computer-based assistive technology.

The Paralympic Games (meaning "alongside the Olympics") are held after the (Summer and Winter)Olympics. The Paralympic Games include athletes with a wide range of physical disabilities. In member countries organizations exist to organize competition in the Paralympic sports on levels ranging from recreational to elite (for example, BlazeSports America in the United States).
The Paralympics developed from a rehabilitation programme for British war veterans with spinal injuries. In 1948, Sir Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist working with World War II veterans with spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury in the UK, began using sport as part of the rehabilitation programmes of his patients.

In 2006, the Extremity Games was formed for people with physical disabilities, specifically limb loss or limb difference, to be able to compete in extreme sports.[citation needed] A manufacturer of prosthetics, College Park Industries, organized the event[citation needed] to give disabled athletes a venue to compete in this increasingly popular[citation needed] sports genre also referred to as action sports. This annual event, held in the summer in Orlando, Florida,[citation needed] includes competitions in skateboarding,wakeboarding, rock climbing, mountain biking, surfing, motocross and kayaking.[citation needed] Non-profit organizations have created programs to advance adaptive sports for regular recreation and sport opportunities.

United Nations

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations formally agreed on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty of the 21st century, to protect and enhance the rights and opportunities of the world's estimated 650 million disabled people. As of Autumn 2010, 95 of the 147 signatories had ratified the Convention.[9] Countries that sign the convention are required to adopt national laws, and remove old ones, so that persons with disabilities will, for example, have equal rights to education, employment, and cultural life; to the right to own and inherit property; to not be discriminated against in marriage, etc.; to not be unwilling subjects in medical experiments.
In 1976, the United Nations launched its International Year for Disabled Persons (1981), later re-named the International Year of Disabled Persons. The UN Decade of Disabled Persons (1983–1993) featured a World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons. In 1979,Frank Bowe was the only person with a disability representing any country in the planning of IYDP-1981. Today, many countries have named representatives who are themselves individuals with disabilities. The decade was closed in an address before the General Assembly byRobert Davila. Both Bowe and Davila are deaf. In 1984, UNESCO accepted sign language for use in education of deaf children and youth.

Under the Ley de Igualdad de Oportunidades (Law of Equal Opportunities), no person can be discriminated by their disabilities if they are equally capable as another person. This law also promotes that public places and transport should have facilities that enable people with disabilities to access them.
May 28 is the Día Nacional de la Persona con Discapacidad (National Disabled People Day) to promote respect for this population.
Currently the political party Partido de Acceso Sin Exclusión (Access Without Exclusion Party) fights for the rights of disabled persons, and one congressman, Oscar López, who is blind.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) (1995, extended in 2005), it is unlawful for organisations to discriminate (treat a disabled person less favourably, for reasons related to the person's disability, without justification) in employment; access to goods, facilities, services; managing, buying or renting land or property; education. Businesses must make "reasonable adjustments" to their policies or practices, or physical aspects of their premises, to avoid indirect discrimination.[10]
A number of financial and care support services are available, including Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance.

The Employers' Forum on Disability (EFD) is a membership organisation of UK businesses. Following the introduction of the DDA the membership of EFD recognised the need for a tool with which they could measure their performance on disability year on year.
In 2005 80 organisations took part in the Disability Standard benchmark providing the first statistics highlighting the UK's performance as a nation of employers.
Following the success of the first benchmark Disability Standard 2007 saw the introduction of the Chief Executives' Diamond Awards for outstanding performance and 116 organisations taking the opportunity to compare trends across a large group of UK employers and monitor the progress they had made on disability.

2009 will see the third benchmark, Disability Standard 2009. EFD have promised that for the first time they will publish a list of the top ten performers who will be honoured at an award ceremony in December 2009.

The US Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires all organizations that receive government funding to provide accessibility programs and services. A more recent law, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which came into effect in 1992, prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job applicationprocedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, or in the terms, conditions and privileges of employment. This includes organizations like retail businesses, movie theaters, and restaurants. They must make "reasonable accommodation" to people with different needs. Protection is extended to anyone with (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual, (B) a record of such an impairment, or (C) being regarded as having such an impairment. The second and third criteria are seen as ensuring protection from unjust discrimination based on a perception of risk, just because someone has a record of impairment or appears to have a disability or illness (e.g. features which may be erroneously taken as signs of an illness).

The US Social Security Administration defines disability in terms of inability to perform substantial gainful activity (SGA), by which it means “work paying minimum wage or better”. The agency pairs SGA with a "listing" of medical conditions that qualify individuals for benefits.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, special educational support is limited to children and youth falling into one of a dozen disability categories (e.g., specific learning disability) and adds that, to be eligible, students may require both special education (modified instruction) and related services (supports such as speech and language pathology).

Difficulties in measuring

Estimates of worldwide and country-wide numbers of individuals with disabilities are problematic. The varying approaches taken to defining disability notwithstanding, demographers agree that the world population of individuals with disabilities is very large. For example, in 2004, theWorld Health Organization estimated a world population of 6.5 billion people, of those nearly 100 million people were estimated to be moderately or severely disabled.[17] In the United States, Americans with disabilities constitute the third-largest minority (after persons of Hispanic origin and African Americans); all three of those minority groups number in the 30-some millions in America.[17] According to theU.S. Bureau of the Census, as of 2004, there were some 32 million disabled adults (aged 18 or over) in the United States, plus another 5 million children and youth (under age 18). If one were to add impairments—or limitations that fall short of being disabilities—Census estimates put the figure at 51 million.[18]
There is also widespread agreement among experts in the field that disability is more common in developing than in developed nations.
Nearly eight million men in Europe returned from the World War I permanently disabled by injury or disease.[19]
About 150,000 Vietnam veterans came home wounded, and at least 21,000 were permanently disabled.[20] The number of disabled U.S. veterans has jumped by 25% since 2001 — to 2.9 million.[21]

After years of war in Afghanistan, there are more than one million disabled people.[22] This is one of the highest percentages anywhere in the world.[23] An estimated 80,000 Afghans have lost limbs, mainly as a result of landmines.

Political rights, social inclusion and citizenship have come to the fore in developed and some developing countries. The debate has moved beyond a concern about the perceived cost of maintaining dependent people with disabilities to an effort of finding effective ways to ensure that people with disabilities can participate in and contribute to society in all spheres of life.
Many are concerned, however, that the greatest need is in developing nations—where the vast bulk of the estimated 650 million people with disabilities reside. A great deal of work is needed to address concerns ranging from accessibility and education to self-empowerment and self-supporting employment and beyond.
In the past few years, disability rights activists have also focused on obtaining full citizenship for the disabled.
However obstacles reside in some countries in getting full employment, also public perception of disabled people may vary in areas.

The disability rights movement, led by individuals with disabilities, began in the 1970s. This self-advocacy is often seen as largely responsible for the shift toward independent living and accessibility. The term "Independent Living" was taken from 1959 California legislation which enabled people who had acquired a disability due to polio to leave hospital wards and move back into the community with the help of cash benefits for the purchase of personal assistance with the activities of daily living.
With its origins in the U.S. civil rights and consumer movements of the late 1960s, the movement and its philosophy have since spread to other continents influencing self-perception, organization and social policy.

Disability benefit, or disability pension, is a major kind of disability insurance, and is provided by government agencies to people who are temporarily or permanently unable to work due to a disability. In the U.S., disability benefit is provided within the category of Supplemental Security Income, and in Canada, within the Canada Pension Plan. In other countries, disability benefit may be provided under Social securitysystems.
Costs of disability pensions are steadily growing in Western countries, mainly European and the United States. It was reported that in the UK, expenditure on disability pensions accounted for 0.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1980, but two decades later had reached 2.6% of GDP.[25][26] Several studies have reported a link between increased absence from work due to sickness and elevated risk of future disability pension.[27]
A study by researchers in Denmark suggests that information on self-reported days of absence due to sickness can be used to effectively identify future potential groups for disability pension.[28] These studies may provide useful information for policy makers, case managing authorities, employers, and physicians.
Private, for-profit disability insurance plays a role in providing incomes to disabled people, but the nationalized programs are the safety net that catch most claimants.

We celebrate, first of all, the achievements of the hundred companies who have this year received the MSC's ‘Fit for Work’ Award. By their example they have demonstrated something of high importance. They have shown that an understanding and constructive attitude towards the particular needs of individuals is part and parcel of running an efficient and successful business.
Secondly, we celebrate the launch of a new Code of Good Practice on the employment of disabled people.[fo 1] We celebrate it, indeed, with a "buffet launch".
Now Ministers, and especially I suppose Prime Ministers, get a fair amount of practice in launching things. Launching a ship, for example is comparatively easy. You say a few words, break a bottle of champagne and look on admiringly as she slides gently into the water.
But how do you launch a Code? —Not, presumably, by breaking a bottle,[fo 2] though it certainly helps if you open one; —Not by cutting a ribbon; —Not even by saying a few words, though I am glad to have the opportunity to do so.
You launch a Code, and especially a voluntary Code, with a generous fund of goodwill. Looking around this Long Gallery, I see that goodwill personified. Government and Opposition, employers and trade unionists, company directors and shop floor workers. We are all united in our determination to[fo 3] improve the employment opportunities for disabled people, and to help them play a full part in the economic life—as well as the social and cultural life—of our community. Our Award winners this year have done just that.
People who employ disabled workers know from experience that it makes good business sense to employ people who are loyal and hardworking and who have skills and abilities to offer.
Disabled people are not looking for favours although naturally they need that extra bit of assistance or consideration to get them started. What they really want is to be considered on their merits for jobs, training and promotion.[fo 4] It is no more than the rest of us take for granted. In fact, I sometimes feel that disabled people have special qualities of drive and determination, acquired in the process of overcoming their disability.
I was particularly struck by the efforts made by one of this year's winners to (michelin) to resettle a former technical sales representative who suffered a serious sporting accident. Although he is now confined to a wheelchair with no movement in his hands and restricted movement of elbows and wrists, he is nonetheless working[fo 5]successfully as a computer programmer and analyst with the company. After retraining, and with the help of aids and adaptations including a specially, equipped office, he is now back at work. But it needed thoughtfulness and careful planning on the part of the employer and local MSC staff to bring about this splendid result.
As Award winners, you and your companies have already done a great deal. But there is something else which I should[fo 6] like to ask you to do. Please talk to your fellow employers about your experience. Don't be modest. Help to get the message across. We'd like to see many more companies taking part in the Fit for Work scheme.
It is sometimes suggested that the development of new technologies threatens jobs. Most people recognise, however, that it makes possible new products, new services, and new jobs. And it certainly makes more possible the employment of disabled people.[fo 7] For example, we are financing some exciting new experiments in working from home, using sophisticated equipment which can help people who can't get about to do as much as their colleagues in offices and factories. We have some interesting examples of this sort of new technology on display here today.
Two years ago we asked the Manpower Services Commission[fo 8] to draw up a Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Disabled People in consultation with employers, employees and voluntary organisations. The resulting Code which is being published today, has the unanimous support of the parties represented on the Commission. It is of course in addition to the existing statutory obligations of employers, which remain in force.[fo 9]
Tom King and Bryan Nicholson will be writing to the Chairmen of major companies and other employers, urging them to take the Code of Good Practice to heart. You, of course, as winners of the ‘Fit for Work’ Award, have already been putting the best policies and practices in to effect. But we need to spread the word.
The Code, which is the first of its kind in Europe, lays emphasis throughout on the need to look for the abilities of disabled workers, not concentrate on their disabilities. Their skills are a valuable national resource, and should not be allowed to waste.[fo 10]
There is more to it than that. Although we stress the realism of our approach, and the economic contribution which disabled people can make, I believe that most of us get a special satisfaction from helping them to find new hope and a new sense of achievement.
We have so little to complain about, and so much to learn from them. We are grateful for their example.