ABLED

adjective (People and Society) Able-bodied, not disabled. Also (especially with a preceding adverb): having a particular range of physical abilities; differently abled, otherly abled, uniquely abled: euphemistic ways of saying 'disabled'. Etymology: Formed by removing the prefix dis- from disabled. History and Usage: The word abled arose in the US; it has been used by the disabled to refer to the able-bodied since about the beginning of the eighties, and is also now so used in the UK. The euphemistic phrases differently abled, otherly abled, and uniquely abled were coined in the mid eighties, again in the US, as part of an attempt to find a more positive official term than handicapped (the official term in the US) or disabled (the preferred term in the UK during the eighties). Another similarly euphemistic coinage intended to serve the same purpose was challenged. Differently abled has enjoyed some success in the US, but all of the forms with a preceding adverb have come in for considerable criticism. Disabled, handicapped, differently-abled, physically or mentally challenged, women with disabilities--this is more than a mere discourse in semantics and a matter of personal preference. Debra Connors in With the Power of Each Breath (1985), p. 92 In a valiant effort to find a kinder term than handicapped, the Democratic National Committee has coined differently abled. The committee itself shows signs of being differently abled in the use of English. Los Angeles Times 9 Apr. 1985, section 5, p. 1 I was aware of how truly frustrating it must be to be disabled, having to deal not only with your disability, but with abled people's utter disregard for your needs. San Francisco Chronicle 4 July 1990, Briefing section, p. 7