So I am very passionate about the language of disability. I really want it to progress to a place where people are not misrepresented or marginalized by the language used to describe them. So I get very frustrated when nondisabled people coopt the narrative and through well intentioned ignorance set the movement for inclusive language … Continue reading When Supposedly Progressive Guides to Talking About Disability Get It Wrong
Tag: disabled people
The Issue of Harper Lee’s New Book and Armchair Activism
I have no definitive answers to the pervasive questions regarding whether Harper Lee truly wants her previously unpublished novel Go Set a Watchman published or if she in her old age has been coerced by the financial motivations of others. I do however wish to comment on some of the insinuations that seem to be … Continue reading The Issue of Harper Lee’s New Book and Armchair Activism
While Outlander is a Real Winner for Women it Totally Fails Disabled People
Outlander is returning to the Starz Network today. It is a popular series based on the novels of Diana Gabaldon. I admit I like the show. I read the books first so of course I cringe where the show deviates from the original. The show is well made and truly entertaining. It has also been … Continue reading While Outlander is a Real Winner for Women it Totally Fails Disabled People
Hey People: Diagnoses are Nouns not Adjectives
As I have written about before, language usage is important when considering how disabled people are viewed and portrayed in society. While I personally prefer to not use person first language, there is one situation where the person should always come first. This is when an actual diagnosis is being discussed. I will demonstrate: Person … Continue reading Hey People: Diagnoses are Nouns not Adjectives
Proof that “Positive” Euphemisms for Disability Just Don’t Work
In the last couple of decades the language surrounding disability has become very fluid, less specific and just generally vague because "disability" is seen as a dirty word whose associations have negative affects on the people to whom it's applied. In a move that fools exactly no one supposedly positive euphemisms have been introduced to … Continue reading Proof that “Positive” Euphemisms for Disability Just Don’t Work
When Your Disability isn’t Considered in Grade School
I have hemiplegic cerebral palsy and am on the autism spectrum. I wasn't diagnosed with the latter until I was eighteen and had already graduated high school. In some ways the total lack of knowledge my parents had about cerebral palsy contributed to this lack of diagnosis. My extreme sensitivity to touch and textures was … Continue reading When Your Disability isn’t Considered in Grade School
Open Letter to People Who Want to Pray that I be Healed
Dear Religious Person I am writing this in response to your unsolicited offer to pray that God will heal me of my disability. Thank you so much for your unsolicited concern for my health while I was just going about my day. I may have been doing any of the following. Walking home from school … Continue reading Open Letter to People Who Want to Pray that I be Healed
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