Yes, but Bill, when "crutch" is continually referred to as a bad thing, an unnecessary and lazy thing, those attitudes get transferred on to the real crutches, and the real people who really need them when there is a medical need.

Q.V. the anecdote Wysiwig shared.

The author of the article that I linked to above suggested using the term "training wheels" if you want to imply someone is using something that they should have outgrown the need for, instead of "crutch."

Okay, it's more than one word. But it's a heck of a lot less than 14.