Functional diversity is a politically and socially correct term for special needs

Special needs

In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...

, disability

Disability

A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...

, impairment

Impairment

Impairment may refer to:* A medical condition that leads to disability* In accounting, a downward revaluation of fixed assets* In health, any loss or abnormality of physiological, psychological, or anatomical structure or function, whether permanent or temporary...

 and handicap, which began to be used in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

in scientific writing, at the initiative of those directly affected, in 2005. This term is intended to replace other ones with pejorative semantics. It proposes a shift towards non-negative, non-disparaging and non-patronizing terms. The formal justification of the term can be found in the book El Modelo de la Diversidad by Agustina Palacios and Javier Romañach, 2007, ISBN: 978-84-964-7440. Examples of usage:

• "people with functional diversity" instead of "people with special needs"
• "physical functional diversity"
• "mobility functional diversity", "person who uses a wheelchair", "wheelchair user"
• "motor functional diversity"
• "dexterity functional diversity"
• "visual functional diversity", "people who use screen readers as their primary means of accessing a computer"
• "people with a visual processing functional diversity"
• "auditory functional diversity"
• "mental functional diversity"
• "intellectual functional diversity"
• "cognitive functional diversity"
• "organic functional diversity"
• "circumstantial and/or temporary functional diversity"
• "person with a functional diversity"
• "persons without functional diversity" rather than "normal" or "healthy"
• "people without functional diversity", "typically developing children"