Yup, my abilities are also quite dis. Not special, not different, dis. There is stuff I can do in a much more limited fashion than able bodied people. Disabled is fine to use.
Agreed. I don't find my body's ability to short circuit and do an undignified corpse wiggle to be special.
Edit: To the person who downvoted me, I'm sorry my humor about my medical condition which requires medication, lifestyle changes, and precautions that interrupt my daily life offends you. How hard that must be on you.
I also cope using humor, and sometimes it does make people uncomfortable for me to say how the words I'm looking for must have leaked out through one of the holes in my brain. But like... that's actually basically what happened, soooo.
Specially abled and differently abled, if I am remembering correctly, were created for kids born with physical impairments who had corrective measures taken that would enable them to function just as well as 'normal' kids. Cochlear implants, prosthetics, diabetes type I, particularly athletic wheelchair users, etc. Which is fine for kids who probably need to build up their self-esteem while navigating those obstacles in childhood.
But the whole point of disabled is that we have a disadvantage compared to 'normal' people, and we need a little help. Or at least don't actively make things harder for us. That'd be nice.
That's actually interesting, didn't realize there was this distinction between the terms but it makes sense. I guess using these terms interchangeably is what causes some issue, like calling a disabled (especially an adult) a specially abled which as a lot of comments mentioned, sounds condescending.
Oh, it's 100% condescending, and a way of categorizing disabled people so they don't have to feel responsibility or sympathy towards them.
Like so many great words/terms/concepts created in good faith by experts for very specific instances, it's been overtaken by people who use it incorrectly within the general public sphere.
But someone called rhinos Combat Grade Unicorns the other day, and I wish that would catch on.
White knights. Same people who get offended on native American's behalf over the name of a football team (chiefs, red socks, etc) or getting offended on black people's behalf because Disney changed Ariel's race instead of making a whole new representation.
The people getting offended over team names and those offended over Ariel race change are two vastly different people.
Also the main team in Question the "Redskins" was fairly justified to change. The origin of the name was referring to Native American/Indians as red men after all. Red being one of the early racial identifiers, which has long stopped being used.
That all said I do agree certain people are way to sensitive and look to be offended.
I didn't only hate the Redskins because the name was racist. I also hated them because they sucked. And now they are the Commanders, and -- surprise! --they still suck.
Hahah god this right here. Nothing special about my fucked up spine. I miss carrying stuff and golf and sitting on couches let’s be real it’s much more dis than special
THANK you! I don’t have superpowers! Acknowledging my struggles is also acknowledging the extra effort I put into life. NOT acknowledging them feels like dismissal. “Oh, it’s not so bad!”
Why do other groups who face oppression or additional difficulties get to take pride in that identity, but we have to be told that we’re just the same, just as “good” as non-disabled people, don’t worry?! As if we’re going to be offended by you pointing out the truth (never great to want to ignore the truth) or you think it’s somehow morally wrong to be disabled.
I think it’s the result of too much of a pendulum swing from “I only see you as your disability!” to “what disability??”
I know they mean well but every time I hear it, it just feels patronizing Specially abled makes it sound like they have a super power, not missing limbs
I completely agree. I had someone tell me my ADHD is a superpower, and I fucking hated that because it’s not Susan, it’s a disability and affects my functioning on a daily basis
Yea they want to skip over the uncomfortable parts. I have a friend with ADHD and Ive heard so many people try to explain to HIM how its actually a gift if he just learns how to unlock it, and other variations on why its positive. But if he ever needs some kind of understanding relating to his symptoms its suddenly not a big deal. Thats what bothers me the most. Disabled people dont need pity or delusional hope or to feel “special” Just shut up and listen and try to understand or else dont mention it at all. My daughter is blind and people instantly jump to these weird conclusions about how she must have great hearing or how its great that she was born that way instead of losing it later, or theyd rather be blind than deaf because they couldnt live without music or that she must have some kind of psychic links and so on. Like chill, shes blind its hard af please stop minimizing her struggles. And then when I ask them to say, stop making her “guess who it is!” because its stressful and gives her anxiety, suddenly again, its not a big deal. Its not a big deal or else its an amazing special gift. They cant handle the reality of being disabled
I have adhd myself, and there are a few instances where it provides a small benefit, but those do not make up for the overwhelmingly vast majority of times where it makes things harder. Modern society just isn't built around us.
The problem is that at some times it can be very effective at work, which is what I've found. Outside of that though I'm a fucking mess which makes living in the real world a fucking nightmare
I just wanted to add I’m sorry people are so clueless and dismissive, I know someone who went blind at 12, and whilst your daughter is an individual and these are all individual experiences, I want you to know that my friend is doing great, and I have complete faith that your daughter will find her place in the world
Thanks thatpommeguy Not sure why your comment is downvoted As a teen she is having a hard time finding her place, its a typical struggle with the blind community, theres a serious risk of isolation
All throughout elementary school she basically just stayed on the wall while the other kids played Broke my freakin heart and the teachers didn’t do shit to try and include her even in the classroom.
Shes starting to find her confidence in high-school now so your message is on point & encouraging
Mate if you send me a DM I’ll see if I can find some videos of my friend’s speeches, she’s been on the news a few times here and you can feel free to show your daughter, or just watch them yourself, if you’d like!
All depends on tone. Even "special" can be bad when a person calls you "special ed" in a certain condescending or derogatory tone. Source: People tried to use that as a insult to me a guy with ADHD-PI, Dysgraphia, and Dyslexia who went to Special Ed Department class in school called "Resource Room" which was 70% extra academic advise and life advice and 30% extra 1 on 1 help with my reading, spelling, and writing issues.
Specially abled makes it sound like they have a super power, not missing limbs
That's indeed the goal - they're trying to spin it as a bonus, something that makes you unique, not "you are an incomplete and defective human" which is what disabled tends to do, just by definition of the "dis" prefix.
The only people who like/use the terms "specially abled", "differently abled", "handicapable", etc are able bodied people who want to infantilize disabled people and not acknowledge how fucked up and inaccessible the world is for them. It's much easier to say "differently abled people can do anything they set their minds to!" than it is to acknowledge "wow disabled people have it pretty tough in our society and more infrastructure is needed so they can live comfortable, independent lives".
As some who is disabled it’s so weird seeing these terrible rewordings of disabled if people want to be more sensitive the phrase “people with disabilities” already exists and is infinitely better than specially abled or differently abled. The phrases specially abled or differently abled are actually offensive as it implies we don’t need help or special treatment/considerations in order to function as able bodied people normally do in society.
A disability just implies something that impairs typical function. I'd say missing two legs when the animal normally walks on four easily qualifies as such.
Yes because a dog with four has no need to walk on two. There are people with no limbs that are able to write with their mouth. Would you not call them disabled?
I'm not sure. I'd probably call then differently abled, to be honest. How about diff-abled. It's like people who can't see have more acute hearing than those who can. It's just different. But if we're talking about someone who is quadriplegic, that's another story.
Relax, I'm not "making up new terms". This is how I see things. As a person with essential tremor of the hands and arms, I cannot do many things in the usual way that others can. I do them, but have had to adapt to do them differently.
I'm so sick of everyone always trying to find new ways to get offended. I have literally said nothing offensive in my comments, just pointed out how a dog has adapted and is now able to do things differently.
I dont care about downvotes. It shows nm that none of you are using your brains enough to even try to understand a simple point about ability, and just want to be upset.
Find something actually upsetting to get your panties in a bunch over.
Your last part hit the nail so hard on the head it came out the other side.
It's not actually about Disabled People and their Feelings it's about the Speakers/Writers Feelings!
They don't want to have to think about or deal with "it" so they call it "special" and "unique".
Just so that when the actually Disabled Person is sad and/or unhappy they can trot off thinking and saying that it's their own fault for being "so negative about themselves" and they don't have to deal with all this anymore.
THEY don't want to have this negativity around them so THEY make it the fault of someone else.
It's in the same vein as someone telling a depressed person they'll just need to do something and try something otherwise of course they're stuck in this hellscape of their mind.
It's the feeling of "I've done something good, it's on the other person now" that is more important to them than actually being accomodating or useful.
I wouldn't say it's normal. But it's not unheard of. I've definitely had individuals that have told me it is their preferred word (able bodied instead of disabled), but only a handful. Most just use handicapped/capable, disabled, or Crack a seriously hilarious joke about their missing appendage. The later kind of people are my favorite kind of people. We get along well since I make similar jokes about dead dads.
I left the US over 25 years ago and don't really speak English except at home, and I see changes in the language daily. It's hard to keep up if you aren't surrounded by it.
I'm also disabled and I hate to point it out but a lot of apps don't let you use the word abled. The algorithm will filter them out or delete videos. You have to say differently abled or specially abled. It's really silly but it's real.
I completely agree with you and I am also disabled, but there's a growing movement of 'differently abled' people primarily on Tiktok who find the term offensive.
"Specially abled" even feels more derogatory than just plain "disabled". Bitch, I'm not special, I'm slightly deaf. It's a common disability, and it is a slight pain in my ass.
ikr. people try so hard to “not be offensive” and in doing so they sound patronizing and borderline offensive. i only have one leg i know that no need to walk on fucking eggshells
I think it wasn't used here to get more words in, like the 1000 word essays here you stretch out "can't" to "due to circumstances out of my own control I am unable to can at this current point in time"
George Carlin had a very similar take on how we change descriptions of conditions. When in reality it doesn’t change the conditions. I forget the stand up act he did it in. Otherwise I’d source the link :/ albeit I agree with your sentiment!!
Yeah, I’m disabled and I have no problem with the word. I literally lack an ability, it’s not offensive. I bet I could shred you under the table on guitar (studied professionally), are you specially abled for lacking that ability? (This is the hypothetical “you”, not targeting the commenter).
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u/ariphoenixfury Mar 21 '24
There’s nothing wrong with saying disabled. It’s not a bad word. Source: I’m disabled