A facial or body difference is the generic term for the aesthetic effect or visual impact of a scar, burn, mark, asymmetric or unusually shaped feature or texture of the skin on the face, hands or body. They can be caused by a condition that someone is born with or that develops in childhood or adulthood. They can also be caused by accidents, dog bites, acts of violence or illnesses such as cancer.

You may have heard people use the word ‘disfigurement’. Note that the word ‘Disfigurement’ has been broadly replaced with the term ‘Difference’ such as in the phrase ‘Facial difference’.

The word “disfigurement” is used as a semi-neutral word to describe the aesthetic effects of a mark, scar asymmetry or paralysis to the face or body. Changing Faces uses the word as a noun (e.g., “a child who has a disfigurement” but avoids its use as an adjective (i.e., we don’t say “a disfigured child” we say a “child with/who has a disfigurement; we don’t say “a disfigured face” instead, we say “a facial disfigurement.”) They are also increasingly using the word ‘Difference’ instead of ‘Disfigurement’ in recognition that the word ‘disfigurement’ is not particularly positive and some people, particularly parents and young people, may not want to use it to describe their own or their child’s condition or appearance, preferring other words like “facial difference”, “visible difference”, “unusual appearance” or the name of the condition.

Changing Faces encourages the real cause of a person’s difference to be spelled out (e.g., “a person with/who has a Bell’s Palsy, cleft lip, burn injuries, cancer, acne etc.”) because this is an informative way of describing the person’s medical condition.

Source:  changing faces