LETTER: A word that does not describe Paralympic star: ‘handicapped’

To Ozaukee Press:

Port Washington High School Assistant Principal Nate Hinze’s triumph at the Paralympics was celebrated without a single use of the burdensome pejorative words “handicapped” or “crippled.”

Most of us do not know that “handicapped” comes from a disabled person begging with cap in hand for money or alms. I once heard Mandella Barnes use the words “differently abled.”

No one could possibly think those out-of-date terms describe a man of such importance in the lives of our precious high school students as Nate Hinz.

Also, this is a lesson in our school district’s hiring practices. Hire the “differently abled.”

Sandra Demerly

Port Washington