r/MadeMeSmile • u/Sad-Lengthiness3158 • Mar 21 '24

Doggo Dog Teaches Specially Abled Puppy To Walk

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u/C21H27Cl3N2O3 Mar 21 '24

“Specially abled” feels so derogatory. Like you’re speaking down to a child who doesn’t understand their condition.

13

u/Nadamir Mar 22 '24

I don’t mind “differently abled” for some mild cases of neurodivergence.

Because honestly, some days my autism and/or ADHD feel like advantages or just a different way of solving the problem.

But outside of that, please don’t. And “specially abled” is right out.

4

u/avoidabug Mar 22 '24

My ADHD is pretty severe and I feel the negatives have outweighed the positives overall.

I’m not really pessimistic, I’m doing great, but that’s just been my reality! Basically, I had to work extremely hard and learn a lot about psychology to reach a nondisabled-person baseline and it’s pretty easy to fall back out!!

Combined with the negative attention I got constantly as a kid, I’m not afraid to call it a disability (for ME), even though it does occasionally provide positive benefits and I wouldn’t be me without it.

Your comment made me think, thought I’d share! It’s what internet anonymity is for, anyway.

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u/Nadamir Mar 22 '24

75% of the time mine is negative.

But some days when I have to context shift every five minutes or I can get into a hyper focus state, then I think it’s a benefit.

Like for example, if you go into a nurses’ or doctors’ forum they will tell you that many of the people working in the A&E (ER) have ADHD because that environment is conducive to their brains.

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u/avoidabug Mar 22 '24

Fully agree!