Language is important

[clevermanka]

I talk a lot about gender and LGBTQ issues, body positivity, and women's rights, but able-ism is another Big Thing for me. My dad used to be in education (before he quit to become a motivational speaker--Go, Dad!) and he worked with kids with development issues (physical, mental, and emotional). I also have a cousin who is severely mentally disabled and incapable of living alone. I'm sensitive their rights and needs and anyone who uses the word "retarded" as a pejorative is automatically put on my Not-So-Cool list. So I was incredibly grateful to be educated about an aspect of abled-thinking that I'd never considered before.

"What pisses me off the most about the term 'special needs' isn’t that it’s cutesy or euphemistic, but the presumption that my needs are special when abled people’s needs are just how they are. If I need transcripts for audio homework assignments, suddenly that’s special, but if an abled student requests transcripts for audio materials, that’s just another student request. Why are my needs special and not yours? 'special needs' is part of ablenormativity." --Lydia Brown

Isn't that brilliant? And, once pointed out, obvious? Thank you, Tumblr. Check out the website of the author if you're so inclined. She seems pretty awesome.

I've got another post about internalized, systemic misogyny brewing. But I'm working on about five (non-consecutive) hours of sleep after a week of the same and my brain's a bit mushy. Look for it later this week!

Comments

[msmitti.livejournal.com]

My friend Karen had (still has) a disabled child and she was always very aware of people using "retarded." I don't think I ever used it much (can't say never), but I have been much more aware of other people saying it in the 15 years that I've known her.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

If I ever heard you say it, believe me, I'd have called you on it. I think you're in the clear. =)

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

It totally makes sense.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Doesn't it? I don't know how many little things like this I've had pointed out to me on Tumblr. Race stuff, gender stuff, class/income stuff... SO MUCH STUFF. The internet has all this information about how to make oneself less of an asshole. It's just a matter of not getting defensive and being okay with saying "Wow, I've been doing something that's really kind of offensive for years. Thank god I finally had it pointed out to me so I can stop doing it now."

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

I also welcome knowing where I've been erring, as long as the person teaching me isn't an asshole about it.

Example, I'd been using *transgendered* for years, since I'd first heard it used that way. I was grateful to be gently schooled by a friend that I'd been using it in error.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

Another thing that bothers me: When you see some kind of viral video that declares a person in it to have something that has no actual bearing on the content except to make it obvious that person is 'different'. Example: I saw a video of a kid at an aquarium playing with a sealion, running back and forth in front of the tank. It was freaking adorable! But it was titled 'Child with Asperger's Makes Connection with Sealion.' How precisely does the fact that he has Asperger's factor in unless it's for ableist clickbait porn? It grosses me out.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. Yeah, that's just awful. I literally just made the face in my icon.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

I saw that video on my FB feed. Frankly, I didn't care what the kid has, I saw a couple of asshole parents letting their little kid run back and forth teasing an animal in captivity, I didn't see any "connection".

Maybe I'm an asshole, too.

I'm also tired of autism and Asperger's being investigated in the lives of killers like Adam Lanza, as if we have to then fear that a child living with those symptoms is a potential killer. Ugh.