'Mental retardation' to 'intellectual disability': Terminological change that remains ignored

Disability is regarded as that component of human existence which results due to the impairments that affect a person's social outlook.

- DR. NIDHI SHARMA

There is a lack of ability to take part in the routine and societal affairs at an equal level with others. The concept of disability received comprehensions of various thinkers and jurists who have not only tried to define the term but also accorded a viable interpretation to it over the years. When we use the term 'disability' we equate it with some form of incapability or deficiency to perform a physical or mental activity. In other words, disability may be expounded as the lack of ability and opportunities to compete with the world.

The Preamble to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 not only acknowledges disability as an evolving concept but also stresses that disability is the result of interaction that occurs between a person under an impairment and his environmental and attitudinal barriers. It also stresses that such barriers often hinder their active and full participation in the society. The definition of disability can be viewed from two perspectives, one being the medical definition and other being the social or legal definition. The legal definitions of disability vary according to the legal purposes that it attempts to fulfil. A law which talks about the social welfare of the disabled shall carry a definition which provides benefits in the society rather than an anti-discrimination law. This debate about the medical definition versus the social or legal definition has had a larger impact on disability studies, as it leads to a shift from the charity-oriented understanding to a rights-based understanding of the term disability.