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by tolbish 1864 days ago
We are just talking about being bad at math temporarily. Let's take a physicist who is having brain fog for a day. In this case, it would be weird to say they are situationally disabled or disabled at all. I think your term "mentally/physically overloaded" would be closer to what I am speaking of. Not sure about "functionally disabled".
3 comments

You’re talking about the legal term “disabled”. Some have opted to refer to it as a “situational limitation” or “situational impairment” to distance from the legal term which can have additional implications.

Going back to your point, though, would you say someone with a concussion is situationally disabled? I suffered from a pretty bad concussion last year which definitely caused a lot of brain fog for weeks. At the beginning I could barely think for a few hours. Would you not call this a situational or temporary disability? It’s certainly more than “brain fog for a day”.

I think it's fair. That's what temp disability is for, workers comp, etc? If I strain my back and I'm bedridden for a few days I think I'm pretty disabled. Similarly, if a vaccine knocks me flat on my butt for a day, people get it, I'm disabled for that day and I need accomodation.
The technical meaning of disability is broader than the legal meaning. The legal meaning is broader than most people would define it.

Using a wrist mounted touch screen is hard if you can't use the other hand. It doesn't matter if it's because the other hand is missing, in a cast, or just holding something. So people in relevant fields talk about permanent, temporary, and situational disabilities.

You don't have to like or use the term. But arguing with people who do won't be productive.