The History of Disability Terminology

I feel that while discussing the history of disability, terminology is both important and controversial. After doing some research, I have determined that it is almost impossible to write about this topic whilst still being politically correct. Virtually every historical term used to refer to the disabled is now deemed offensive in one way or another. I would like to take this opportunity to explore the origins of certain terms for disabled people, as well as what the various approaches to disability terminology are. I will only include terms related to physical impairments as this is what I can relate to.

Medical vs Social Model

This bit may get technical, so I will try and keep it brief. Basically, when it comes to defining disability there are two schools of thought. The first of these is the medical model of disability. This is the belief that the problem lies in the body of the person and this causes the disability. For example, if someone is paralysed and uses a wheelchair as a result, the paralysis is what disables them. This line of thinking has led to doctors attempting to treat patients with disabilities in order to cure them. This model has been heavily criticised by disability activists for confining disabled people to medical institutions and depicting them as charity cases who deserve pity.

To counteract this, the social model of disability emerged. With this narrative, a disability was no longer caused by a fault in someone’s body. Instead, it was the way society reacted to that fault. In this narrative, the problem, i.e. paralysis is deemed an impairment and the lack of wheelchair access is the disability. This model has surpassed the medical model in prominence as it gives more power to people with disabilities and has assisted the efforts of disability rights activists. However, certain authors, such as Tom Shakespeare feel that the social model has gone too far and may even be counterproductive. I would be inclined to agree with him. For instance, some ardent supporters of the social model ignore the fact that some impairments are themselves disabling. I can say from personal experience, that various aches and pains can indeed be debilitating. Therefore, I think that recognising the medical and social aspects of disability are important.

Disability vs Handicap

Alright, now that I have all the boring technical stuff out of the way, it’s time for the fun stuff; the offensive terms!!

The most obvious word to begin with is disability. According to www.etymonline.com disability comes from the 1570s and means  "want of power, strength, or ability,". It was not until the 1640s that it came to mean incapacity in the eyes of the law. So, at that point it did not specifically reference impairment. Some people find the ‘dis’ part of disability to be offensive as it indicates something is lacking. However, for me, it is just a word I use to describe myself.

Horse Racing

The term handicapped; I find a little less appealing. Hopefully, its origins will help to explain why. The betting game hand in cap was played in the mid-1600s. Two bettors would put their hand, with forfeit money, in a cap (hence the name). The umpire announced the bet and the players would withdraw their hands with the money to accept the bet, or without the money to forfeit it. Therefore, the term hand in cap, later shortened to handicap, was used as an equaliser in sport. From the mid-1700s, weights were added to superior horses, for betting purposes to ‘handicap’ them. So, understandably, I don’t like being compared to a horse!!

Other Derogatory Terms

Crippled Beggar

There are several other words for disabilities used in the past which are now deemed offensive. I will briefly discuss some of them here. One of the most offensive words in relation to physical impairment is cripple. It appears constantly in historical records. So much so, that it no longer seems offensive to me. Most definitions indicate that someone who is crippled is deprived of at least one limb. Therefore, they creep, or limp, or appear crooked or bent. Interestingly, the definition for crip on www.etymonline.com indicates that cripple was shortened to crip in the U.S. in 1918. This is the same period wounded veterans were returning from WW1. Crippled can also mean badly damaged, as in, the economy was crippled.

Lame is another term which pops up regularly in historical records. It originates from the 1300s and meant “imperfect”. Many of its root words in Old English, Dutch and German, translate as “weak”, “maimed”, or “broken”. In recent times, lame has come to mean uncool. As a result, it may have lost some of its connection to disability.

I hope this helps explain where some of the derogatory terms for disability originated and why they are deemed offensive. I personally don’t find the words themselves offensive. Instead I judge them by their intent and context.

Next week I will start my series looking at disabled historical figures, beginning with the Roman Emperor Claudius.

 

                                                                                                    The Wheelchair Historian

 

Further Reading

Hahn, Harlan, “Towards a Politics of Disability: Definitions, Disciplines and Policies.” Social Science Journal 22.4 (1985): 87-105. https://www.independentliving.org/docs4/hahn2.html Accessed: 15 July 2020.

Kuppers, Petra. (2010). Introduction. Profession, 107-111. www.jstor.org/stable/41419867 Accessed: 15 July 2020.

National Disability Authority http://nda.ie/Publications/Attitudes/Appropriate-Terms-to-Use-about-Disability/ Accessed: 17 July 2020.

Online Etymology Dictionary www.etymonline.com Accessed: 17 July 2020.

Shakespeare, Tom, and N. Watson. “The Social Model of Disability: An Outdated Ideology?” Exploring Theories and Expanding Methodologies: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go? Research in Social Science and Disability. Ed. S. Barnartt and B. Altman. Vol.2. Amsterdam: JAI, 2001. 9-28. https://www.um.es/discatif/PROYECTO_DISCATIF/Textos_discapacidad/00_Shakespeare2.pdf Accessed: 15 July 2020.

Snopes https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/handicaprice/ Accessed: 17 July 2020. 

Today I found out http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/12/origin-word-handicap/ Accessed: 17 July 2020.

U.K. Government https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-communication/inclusive-language-words-to-use-and-avoid-when-writing-about-disability Accessed: 17 July 2020.

Zola, Irving. “Self, Identity, and the Naming Question: Reflections on the Language of Disability.” Social Science and Medicine 36.2 (1993): 167-73.

The History of Wheelchairs

As I have decided to call myself The Wheelchair Historian, it is only logical that my first post should be about the history of the wheelchair. It can be an essential piece of equipment for those with mobility issues. I have often wondered when it was invented and how people coped before it.

Litters

Roman Litter

The earliest form of transport I have come across is the litter. Basically, it is a chair which is carried on poles by servants. Various emperors and rulers throughout history have used litters, mainly because they are lazy and could not be bothered to walk. However, I am fascinated by the Roman Emperor, Claudius (10 BCE – 54 CE). He too used a litter, but it may have been out of necessity. The Roman historian Cassius Dio records:

‘he was sickly in body, so that his head and hands shook slightly. Because of this his voice was also faltering, and he did not himself read all the measures that he introduced before the senate, but would give them to the quaestor to read, though at first, at least, he was generally present. Whatever he did read himself, he usually delivered sitting down. Furthermore, he was the first of the Romans to use a covered chair, and it is due to his example that to‑day not only the emperors but we ex-consuls as well are carried in chairs; of course, even before his time Augustus, Tiberius, and some others had been carried in litters such as women still affect even at the present day’’.

It seems the disabled emperor may have popularised the Roman trend of using litters.

Chairs with wheels

While litters were great, they did not have wheels. Not the best start for a post about wheelchairs. However, by the 16^th Century, people began to attach wheels to their chairs. In 1595, King Phillip II of Spain had an “invalid’s chair” invented for him. It consisted of an adjustable backrest, leg rests and a footboard. Most importantly, it sat on four small wheels, so could be moved around by servants. Phillip II suffered from various illnesses, including gout, possibly due to being a member of the Habsburg family. I hope to expand on this some other time as I feel that subject deserves a post of its own.

Stephan Farffler

What happened to those who did not have servants to push them around? In 1655, a paraplegic German, Stephan Farffler, created the first self-propelled wheelchair. He used his skills as a watchmaker to do this, incorporating cranks and wheels. This would have been liberating for him to be able to move independently.

Bath Chairs

A significant advancement in wheelchair technology took place with the creation of the bath chair (first picture above). James Heath created the chair c.1750 and named it after the town of Bath. It was a rickshaw style vehicle, with two large wheels at the back, and one small wheel at the front. It could be pushed from behind, while the person seated in it could steer with a handle. It was intended to carry invalids as well as ladies. It became the most popular wheelchair in the first half of the 19^th Century.

Possibly inspired by the bath chair, wheelchairs emerged with wheels large enough for self-propulsion. The chairs were made of wood, with solid wooden wheels. These chairs also included a footboard with a small wheel underneath. A chair of similar style, sometimes made of cane, was used in hospitals during the American Civil War.

Modern Wheelchairs

The wheelchairs that we recognise today began to take shape at the end of the 19^th Century and the beginning of the 20^th Century. The patent for a chair with small front casters and rear push wheels emerged in 1869. Hollow rubber wheels much like those of bicycles were added between 1867 and 1875.

The creation of the folding wheelchair was a key development, which occurred in the early decades of the 20^th Century, with tubular-steel. The first cross-frame wheelchair was introduced in 1932 by Harry C. Jennings, an American mechanical engineer and Herbert A. Everest, an American mining engineer. Everest had been severely injured in a work accident, which inspired their wheelchair creation. They formed Everest & Jennings, Inc., becoming a leading wheelchair manufacturer.

The first mass produced motorised wheelchairs were not created until after World War II. George Klein and a team of engineers were employed by The National Research Council of Canada, aiming to assist injured veterans. In 1956, Everest & Jennings were the first to mass produce electric wheelchairs.

As time has gone by, there have been improvements in both the ergonomics and aesthetics of wheelchairs. The capabilities of wheelchairs have also improved. Hopefully, with the advancement of technology, things can only get better.

Next Week I hope to let you know where I stand/sit regarding disability terminology.

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                           The Wheelchair Historian

 

Further Reading

BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/qcI7cMgiR0qmLnD_QPyIGQ Accessed: 10 July 2020.

Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-the-wheelchair-1971423 Accessed: 10 July 2020.

Irish Stairlifts & Bathrooms https://www.irishstairlifts.ie/the-history-of-the-wheelchair/ Accessed: 10 July 2020.

Kamenetz, Herman L. “A Brief History of the Wheelchair.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, vol. 24, no. 2, 1969, pp. 205–210. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24621915 . Accessed: 10 July 2020.

LacusCurtius http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/60*.html Accessed: 10 July 2020.

Mental Floss https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/20768/who-invented-wheelchair Accessed: 10 July 2020.

ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-wheelchair-1992670 Accessed: 10 July 2020.