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[Nabubrush]

no, it was "American Gladiator" style silly foam shit.

The icecream was awesome, though.

You made the right choice.

[Golfhaus]

My favorite is how a lot of people think that Handicapped comes from a kind of insensitive thing, but it doesn't?
it is kind of not working for me to put the words together, so, here.

Well, "handicapped" as in "That guy over there is handicapped" is wrong. It's not a word that is supposed to be used to describe the condition of a person, much as you're not supposed to refer to a person as "Oriental."

[jay-ell]

I had a paraplegic friend who used to describe herself as a "non-walker." 

I think using the specific term for the person's disability is generally preferable, much like so-called Native Americans (according to a friend who knows about such things) generally prefer to be called by their tribal affiliation (e.g. Cherokee, Blackfoot, etc.)  I would rather have my son labeled "autistic" than "handicapped," "disabled," or even "special-needs." 

When it comes to things like bathrooms stalls and parking spaces, I tend to refer to them as "wheelchair-accessible."  They are not designed for all disabled people.  They are designed for people in wheelchairs.  A larger bathroom stall with handrails isn't going to help you if you're deaf. 

[Nabubrush]

When it comes to things like bathrooms stalls and parking spaces, I tend to refer to them as "wheelchair-accessible."  They are not designed for all disabled people.  They are designed for people in wheelchairs.  A larger bathroom stall with handrails isn't going to help you if you're deaf. 

Insert wide-stance joke here.

Edited to make me not look quite as unfeeling.

[wombat]

Well, "handicapped" as in "That guy over there is handicapped" is wrong. It's not a word that is supposed to be used to describe the condition of a person, much as you're not supposed to refer to a person as "Oriental."

Yeah, but this is a thing that changes over time, too. All polite words for stigmatized conditions eventually become stigmatized as words.  "Moron" and "idiot" used to be technical, scientific terms, but they turned into insults. So they got replaced with other technical terms, like 'retarded,' but that became an insult... etc. Language can't keep up, because language can't do anything to affect people's underlying negative attitudes.