Handicap Equipment

A disability is a partial reduction of a physical or mental capacity of an individual. A disability can range from diabetes and depression to the hard of hearing and the total paralysis of a limb. New technologies and making available of public environments has made it easier to live with disabilities in recent years, at least in the West. In some countries, many environments are accessible for example for wheelchairs, however there is still a lot more that could be done. The word handicap is used in day to day talk as a synonym for disability. The word handicap, however, perceived by many people with disabilities as misleading.

All people have their strengths and weaknesses. In some situations, we become disabled. It is when the activity or the environment contains too high demands. A disability is not something we are always carrying on. A deaf person is not disabled when he is reading and a blind person is not when she listens to the radio. Similarly, a person with a intellectual disability (or other cognitive disability) is less disabled when the situation is concrete, simple and structured after the person’s needs. If the requirements are reduced so is the handicap!