Differently abled

This term was coined by the US Democratic National Committee in the early 1980s as a more acceptable term than handicapped (or, in the UK, disabled). The motivation seems to have been both a genuine attempt to view the people previously called handicapped in a more positive light and also as need to be seen as politically correct. The Los Angeles Times reported it this way in September 1980:

Festival workers constructed dozens of adjustable ramps to make Camp Mather accessible to the disabled – referred to at the festival as ‘differently abled’ or ‘physically challenged’.

However, some have seen the label as a euphemistic attempt to disguise the difficulties experienced by people who have serious physical or mental handicaps.