I used to know a AB guy who would chatise me for using the term "disabled"
- I would just look at hime and move away - as a person who has CP, I don't
need anyone, least of all an AB person, telling me how I want to describe
myself. Pah!
I loathe the word "crippled" but I must say it seems to be a generational
thing so I just kind of shrug it off. I think we're going too far in the
PC direction.
Kat
Original Message:
-----------------
From: Kendall D. Corbett [log in to unmask]
Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 12:38:14 -0700
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: what were your childhoods like?
Kyle,
So, was the commissar habitually obtuse, or did she just not "get it"
when people pushed her out of her comfort zone (which, for people who
insist on being PC, gets narrower all the time).
The new one that bothers me is the use of the word "impairment" to
describe a physical or mental condition. When people say I'm
"impaired," I want to say "I'm Not Drunk, I always move like this!"
Apparently disability is now supposed to refer to something in the
environment that makes life more difficult for pwd (pwi?), while
impairment is the intrinsic "condition" of the person, eg, CP,
paraplegia, mental illness...
On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 11:36 AM, Cleveland, Kyle E.
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Kendall and all.
>
> Back a couple years ago when I was completing my career as a
> professional part-time student <insert melancholy sigh here> my academic
> adviser and department chair (communications) also happened to be the
> Campus Commissar for Political Correctness. In order to complete the
> program I had to take one of her silly courses in "Contemporary
> Subcultures", or some such nonsense. We delved into such varied and
> esoteric topics as the "Schism Between Roman Catholicism and Greek
> Orthodoxy as Expressed in Cathedral Architecture" (I kid you not) and
> "Alternative Lifestyles and the Native American Experience".
>
> Anyway, we got around to the evolution of social group names (e.g.,
> "negro" became "black" became "African American") and how progressive
> societies elevated social groups by making current labels offensive and
> creating new labels that were supposed to magically raise socioeconomic
> status. We were lectured ad nauseum about how hurtful these labels were
> to said groups. Go figure.
>
> So she got around to me and said, "Kyle, when you were a child, you were
> 'crippled', then you became 'disabled'. Our progressive society has
> come to learn that 'disabled' still carries baggage, so you'll be
> pleased to know that you are not DIS-abled, but 'differently abled'.
> Doesn't that make you feel empowered?"
>
> "Only if it scores me an "A" in this class", says I.
>
> The sarcasm blew past her like a kid getting ready to score his first
> beer.
>
> Says Prof. PC, "Kyle, can you give us an example how your "different
> abilities" have made your life "different"?
>
> "Sure. I got this plastic thingy I can hang on my rear-view
> mirror--looks like a guy sitting on a commode. Anyway, I can hang that
> thing up and park right next to the mall at Christmas-time while the
> rest of you have to drag your sorry arses a half-mile! (In the words of
> Napoleon Dynamite, 'Lucky!')."
>
> She STILL didn't get it!
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Cerebral Palsy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
> Of Kendall D. Corbett
> Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 1:50 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: what were your childhoods like?
>
> <snip>
>
> I also don't see an accessible parking space (for example) as a
> privilege,
> but as a way for a business to assure that they'll get my business.
> It's
> too bad that enough businesses didn't see the economic advantages to
> implementing the provisions of the ADA voluntarily, as pwd's (and
> elders)
> are potentially the largest segment of the economy. If businesses want
> our
> money and talent, it's incumbent upon them to ensure we can get in the
> door,
> and get around inside, as customers or employees.
>
> I'd also be interested to hear about the "special privileges" your
> disability has entitled you to.
>
>
> -----------------------
>
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>
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>
>
--
Kendall
An unreasonable man (but my wife says that's redundant!)
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.
-George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950
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