Julie G Madorsky , MD Before individuals with disabilities won civil rights , they were called invalids . The dictionary defines an invalid as one who is without value , defective , and weakened--just like U . S . vice-presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( FDR ) who had a new social identity thrust upon him when he contracted polio in 1921 . “ Now he is a cripple , " said a friend of his mother , “ will he ever be anything else ?" Suddenly devalued , he might have resonated with this social bias and wondered whether he would be better off dead than alive and disabled . However he went on to disprove stereotypes and to become the only four-time President of the United States . Since the days of FDR , a disability rights paradigm has spread from North America across the globe . No longer do we define a patient as one who is an invalid , ie without validity , rights or potential . As rehabilitation professionals we seek to forge partnerships with our patients in which we are ...
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