City Phases Out Handicapped Signs

posted on Aug 09 by Amelia in the Advocacy, Disability News, Opinion and Discussion category

Cincinnati has taken an initiative to change all the public signs to remove the word “handicapped.”  Instead, they will use the word “accessible” or just show the wheelchair symbol.

Advocates state the difference is significant and should alleviate any stigma around the word.  Many of the signs are already in place.

City Council members voted unanimously last week to make the change.  The people from the community claimed they felt offended, and commissioners reacted.

Signs are being replaced as they are needed.

There are many beliefs as for the origin of the word “handicapped,” including “cap-in-hand” referring to someone begging for money.  Another belief is that it originated from “hand-in-cap” in a betting game that dates to the 1600s and later moved to horse racing to give the strongest competitors extra weight to carry.  In golf, it is number of strokes a player can subtract from their score to give him a chance against better players.  According to Wikipedia, the term was associated with disabled people in 1915 when used to describe crippled children.  Still others debunk the phrase completely as urban legend.