GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARED HANDICAPPED INDIVIDUALS

The major policy questions concerning government action in relation to handicapped individuals are reviewed. First, the definitions of the terms "handicapped" and "disabled" are discussed. Considerable disagreement exists as to whether "handicapped" or "disabled" is the proper descriptive term. There are more than three dozen definitions in Federal legislation and regulations referring to "handicapped" and/or "disability." With regard to how many handicapped people there are in the United States, different studies produce different numbers, depending upon the definitions used. At least 10 percent of the population have a visible physical handicap like polio, cerebral palsy, or a spinal cord injury. Another 10 percent have an invisible handicap, such as epilepsy, learning disorders, or mental retardation. Others have communication problems, such as blindness or deafness. The specific policy areas concerning the needs of handicapped people that are examined are attitudes, technology, transportation, architectural barriers, employment, housing, recreation, and education. Affecting future policy in this area will be the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the regulations of which prohibit discrimination against any qualified handicapped person on the basis of his or her handicap. The regulations apply to every program or activity that receives federal finacial assistance from HEW.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1316083
• Corporate Authors:

  Policy Studies Organization

  University of Illinois, 361 Lincoln Hall
  Urbana, IL  United States  61801
• Authors:
  • Pfeiffer, D
  • Giampietro, M
• Publication Date: 1977

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 93-101
• Serial:
  • Policy Studies Journal
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
  • ISSN: 0190-292X
  • EISSN: 1541-0072
  • Serial URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1541-0072

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Attitudes; Definitions; Education; Employment; Federal government; Legislation; Numbers; Persons with disabilities; Policy; Recreation; Regulations; Technology; Transportation
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Architectural barriers
• Subject Areas: Law; Policy; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00451443
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM