9781422282588

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Disability and Families

Having a disability may mean that there are certain things you can’t do, but you might be surprised at how many things you actually can do.

UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY A disability is sometimes defined as “the inability to move, perceive the world, or think the way others do.” The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 defines a per- son as disabled if he or she “has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” But what does that really mean? Let’s look at the word disability itself. The prefix dis comes from Latin, and it means “away” or “apart.” And the word ability means simply having the means or skill to do a particular thing. So disability means the absence of a particular skill. That’s an important thing to understand: if we say that a person has a disability, we are not saying that person is less worthy than anyone else. Literally, all we are saying is that he or she does not have a specific skill. There are many, many types of disability. Some can be seen easily. If someone needs a wheelchair or guide dog to get around, that person’s disability will be