"Handicapped" and "Affliction." Doubtless you've heard of them. Yet, do you know what they mean?

These were words which were once used to describe a person with what you and I nowadays know as having a disability. Yet, thanks to years of reform, they have all but been eradicated as they are now deemed offensive by many.

 by looking at the words people once used to describe someone with a disability, will further your understanding of the important issues surrounding this whole campaign for which I would like to thank you all for your support.

"affliction". It was most commonly used in the nineteenth century. While people still use it on occasions today, it is disliked by the majority of disability activists. And for good reason. You often find it used with words such as "victim," to emphasize the suffering or the horrors of disability.

Yet, the interesting difference between "affliction" and "handicapped" is that "affliction" was not something you should conquer. While an "affliction" was a spiritual burden with which you were borne and endured as best as possible, in submission to God's wisdom, a "handicap" was a condition to be conquered, an impediment to worldly success that had to be overcome. Thus twentieth-century success stories about persons with disabilities are often stories about "overcoming."

Other words which have fallen out of vogue include "Spastic" now "Cerebral Palsy" and "Retardation" now "Developmental Disability." The term "Coloured people" his now "Persons of colour" and "Disabled People" has become "persons with Disabilities."

It's a significant culture change in part to create a "person-centred society" in which as the title suggest, to place the person in order of priority and to paint a positive image.

While years of reform have all but eradicated these archaic words, surprisingly Disability and disabled still remain in use today. Both of these iniquitous words comprise the negative prefix: Dis, meaning "hopeless", "subordinate" and "incapable" which is why I am calling for their abolition.

I think we've all suffered enough than for us to have to be saddled with an iniquitous and demeaning label, don't you, when other sectors of society have fought for their own rights and gained some ground in the process. Such a label is far from positive and casts its subjects in what I can only describe as a pitiful and demeaning light.

Beside cancelling out the stigma associated with the Dis, Removing it ought to provide us with a far clearer window through which to see the real person with thoughts, feelings, aspirations, goals and abilities, among other things.

While I accept that my historical knowledge on this subject is anything but complete, I am ready and prepared to learn from others more knowledgeable than I in this area. Even so, I have fire in my belly and determination in my heart, and will do everything conceiveably possible to see this all-important campaign through to its victorious conclusion.

However, I realise that if I am to succeed in my fight for justice, I'm going to need more support, something far beyond your usual tokenistic gesture and candid "good luck" encouragement.

Action is needed if we are to stand any chance of a victory; And the battles of the past are clear testomony of that fact.

It's how women got the vote, is it not.

Please follow and share this campaign as it involves individuals, families and society. Your involvement could make all the difference to the lives of many.

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