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Disability and incapacity
The same words mean different tests. Everyday talk, medical models, employment law, compensation schemes, and income-protection policies do not share a definition. Income protection usually assesses treated performance of material duties. Discrimination statutes often look at the unmitigated baseline. Mixing those axes is a trap.
33 contexts · Disability · Incapacity · Mitigated-state trap · Capacity ≠ performance
How the word is used
Disability
General / Dictionary
A physical/mental condition limiting activities; lack of ability; a handicap preventing normal life or work.
disabilityDisablement
General / Dictionary
The state or process of being disabled; the act of making a person or device inoperative.
disabilityDisability
Medical Model
A biological defect, pathology, or bodily system failure requiring treatment/cure.
disabilityDisablement
Medical Model
The pathological outcome of injury/disease.
disabilityDisability
Social Model
Disadvantage imposed by societal barriers excluding people with impairments.
disabilityDisablement
Social Model
The active process of being marginalized by societal structures.
disability · comparativeDisability
Biopsychosocial (WHO-ICF)
Umbrella term for impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions.
disabilityDisability
Conceptual / Academic
(See Biopsychosocial and Social model entries above)
disabilityDisablement
Conceptual / Academic
A metric of functional capacity loss; the process of exclusion.
incapacityIncapacity
General / Dictionary
The state of lacking the physical, mental, or legal ability to do something.
incapacityIncapacity
Medical Model
Functional inability to perform physical or cognitive tasks due to illness, injury, or impairment.
incapacityIncapacity
Conceptual / Academic
A broad umbrella concept spanning medical, legal, and functional inability, contrasted with "disability" (often more status/rights-based) and "incapacitation" (…