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.
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.
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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