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‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
31–40 of 54 posts
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#32My reaction to "differently able" as a disabled person is to think: changing what you call it doesn't change my disability and certainly doesnt change how I feel about myself. If anything it seems lazy and pandering.
I can't do many things that most others can. That's just how it is and I have accepted that. I work with what I have, just like we all do.
Calling it something you consider less offensive doesn't obviate you from treating me with respect and decency. If you want to know something about my disability ask. Be polite and respectful, Understand the appropriateness of the situation and don't obsess on my differences.
When we first met I didn't ask, "wow why are you so ugly?" So maybe asking "why do you limp?" Shouldn't be your first question.
Compassion isn't avoiding offending me, or offending your own feelings.
Compassion is about understanding, hey they can't do some things many of us can or need to do them differently. But they're a person and deserve to be treated like one just like anyone else.
This isn't hard.
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#33Did someone ever work out the relevant academic theory that describes this linguistic process? A word starts out as neutral, but gradually transitions to becoming a slur (a process that seemingly takes decades), and is replaced by a new politically correct word which is seen as too avant-garde at first, but gets established in part due to a lack of push-back (because any criticism will make the person levelling it se…
Yep, Nassim Taleb has written about it:
https://medium.com/incerto/the-most-intolerant-wins-the-dict...
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#34I'm India the official term used and promoted by the government is "specially abled"
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#35I'm India the official term used and promoted by the government is "specially abled"
So what is that special ability I have? The ability to make other people come up with silly euphemisms to describe my disability?
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#36Did someone ever work out the relevant academic theory that describes this linguistic process? A word starts out as neutral, but gradually transitions to becoming a slur (a process that seemingly takes decades), and is replaced by a new politically correct word which is seen as too avant-garde at first, but gets established in part due to a lack of push-back (because any criticism will make the person levelling it se…
Yep I've observed and described this process myself over the years. look at: > "negro" => "colored" => "black" => "African American" => "person of color" It's pretty inane when you think about it. At some point wouldn't people start noting that, hey, you're trying to solve something clearly, but what you're attempting to do is clearly not the right approach.
This does signal what type of person you are dealing with if they don't go along with the word change. For example, if I heard someone using the negro word I would think that there was an excellent chance that person was racist. The renaming also signals to everyone racism isn't acceptable (in a very minor way). It is hard to change a culture but the words we use in one of the ways we do it.
When the world stops being racist this renaming will stop.
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep I've observed and described this process myself over the years. look at: > "negro" => "colored" => "black" => "African American" => "person of color" It's pretty inane when you think about it. At some point wouldn't people start noting that, hey, you're trying to solve something clearly, but what you're attempting to do is clearly not the right approach.
This does signal what type of person you are dealing with if they don't go along with the word change. For example, if I heard someone using the negro word I would think that there was an excellent chance that person was racist. The renaming also signals to everyone racism isn't acceptable (in a very minor way). It is hard to change a culture but the words we use in one of the ways we do it. When the world stops bein…
> When the world stops being racist this renaming will stop.
As well say “renaming will not stop.” Something will always be wrong to someone. Change will always be right to someone.
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#38Did someone ever work out the relevant academic theory that describes this linguistic process? A word starts out as neutral, but gradually transitions to becoming a slur (a process that seemingly takes decades), and is replaced by a new politically correct word which is seen as too avant-garde at first, but gets established in part due to a lack of push-back (because any criticism will make the person levelling it se…
Yep I've observed and described this process myself over the years. look at: > "negro" => "colored" => "black" => "African American" => "person of color" It's pretty inane when you think about it. At some point wouldn't people start noting that, hey, you're trying to solve something clearly, but what you're attempting to do is clearly not the right approach.
It’s like a woke cycle. I’m not sure it’s really about the words, but in some ways, the new people look at the terrible attitudes of the previous people (easy to count on that) and feel the need to disavow it by creating a linguistic line in the sand.. some jump over it, but the others get the sharp end of the stick, culturally speaking.
The advocacy and social signaling feels more imperative than the ancillary social improvements that may be happening either way. It also feels generationally alienating, while some of the “I see things with new eyes” part can happen even among those who don’t even know the words have changed.
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#39Did someone ever work out the relevant academic theory that describes this linguistic process? A word starts out as neutral, but gradually transitions to becoming a slur (a process that seemingly takes decades), and is replaced by a new politically correct word which is seen as too avant-garde at first, but gets established in part due to a lack of push-back (because any criticism will make the person levelling it se…
I opened this thread hoping to say this exact same thing and you hit the nail on the head.
I had this discussion with someone not long ago about the term "homeless" or "homelessness" and their argument was that this was an overly aggressive word and was outdated. The damn word describes exactly what it is, which is a person that is without a home.
Re: ‘Disabled’ is not a bad word. Stop telling people with disabilities it is
#40Like most of these wokisms, it's not about bettering the situation or lives, it's more about complying with a singly-minded mindset of a singular world view that wokists would have us all hold. It's the same way with any cult (whether religious or social). When you control words and vocabulary you are just one step from controlling thoughts.