Communicating with and About People with Disabilities
The term "handicapped" is generally regarded as a negative term that should be avoided. However, in the early 1970s, the term was used commonly to refer to people with disabilities, and in fact was employed by Congress throughout the original version of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. The Department of Labor's regulations implementing Section 504 of the Act, which were published in 1974, also use the term "handicapped." These regulations have not yet been amended to correct the use of this term; DOL plans a major revision of the regulations in the near future. The use of "handicapped" in the regulations should not be considered an endorsement of the term, and it should be replaced by "person with disabilities" or similar "people-first" terms wherever possible.
