Comparing Perspectives of People with Disabilities and Professionals on the ICIDH-2 Beta-1

Abstract

The World Health Organization is revising the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH). As part of the revision process, 51 individuals in the United States completed a survey. The respondents included people with and without disabilities and rehabilitation-related professionals. This article reports areas of agreement and disagreement on several changes proposed for the ICIDH-2. Results indicate agreement for the need to classify activities rather than disabilities, to replace "handicap" with "participation restriction," and to include environmental factors in the classification. Policy implications include tracking the influence of policy changes on the activities performed and on participation in major life activities by people classified as impaired in motor or mental capacity. Including the classification of environmental factors could encourage a confluence of the social and biological models of disability that would provide a richer understanding of the interactions between people with disabilities and their surroundings.