Terms of intense annoyance.......

FranknFurter

This may sound pathetic and ridiculous.........

I was out today, and *three* times, in the space of 2 hours, I was reffered to by the following terms.......

"Handicapped" - From the crimean war if I remember correctly, reffered to poor soldiers who were injured in battle and had to go "cap-in-hand" for food money etc......

"Wheelchair Bound" - I am not now, nor have I ever been, tied to my chair.....

"wheelchair person" - wtf??

*If* my wheelchair needs to be mentioned at *all*... personally Id prefere "Wheelchair user" or "Person with a disability".......

Maybe Im being over-sensitive, but jeez,.... I thought all those terms had died a death long ago.......

*sigh*

needed to vent that lol

b

Amz

Well Barry you've touched on an interesting subject here. Unless you tell people that you are unhappy with these terms (And ('m not talking about here on this forum, or to your close friends/family) then they won't know that they're upsetting you. They haven't been told any differently by you, or anyone else that these terms may be offensive and what the preferred way of referring to it is. They don't know any better and will continue to use the offensive terms unless you set 'em straight.

There is a definite lack of education about disability and people with disabilities in this country and at this stage it seems like the only people who can change people's perceptions, beliefs etc. are the people with the disabilities themselves.

We're supposed to be the experts on our own individual cases.

Hagar

In the course of my day to day life I don't come into contact with people in wheelchairs. In fact the last person I spoke to in a wheelchair was you Franknfurter and that was 10 months ago. I don't know what got me most. The reality of you being in a wheelchair and not being hindered by it or the absence of the stockings and highheels.

Try not to be too hard on people. It's just as awkward for us as it is for you. Its a facet of life that many of us just don't experience and maybe we don't handle it too well.

FranknFurter

Amz, Iv spent most of my life as a disability educator, I guess Im just peeved that ppl *still* think words like that are accecptable,... and I *always* say it, still gets on my wick is all...

Hagar lol
My tights must have been in the wash that day, and my heels *were* in for repair.....


The thing I find most funny tho, is its *always* from adults, and I dont even mean *older* adults, we can be talking ppl in their 20's..... to *me* thats weird.........

At least the majority of younger kids seem to know better, they often only use those words when insulting is the desired effect lol

b

Hagar

Wheels don't matter in Cyberspace.
Are there many other wheelchair users on Boards?

Victor

It does beat being an "invalid" though.

I discussed the terms "disabled" and "handicapped" with a German friend. The words have been so twisted that when you think about it "handicapped" is a less extreme (towards "invalid" ) word than "disabled".

dbnavan

I have cerebral palsy, i have yet to find a term that i like, disabled, hadicapped, phyiscally challenged, hate them all.....I have it live with it, i dont introduce be best friend by saying........

this is pat my big earred friend...(fictious name and example)

its there it cant be hidden so live with it!

Squirrel

Depends on what people are used to, I've worked with people with mental disabilities as part of TYO so am somewhat used to people with disabilities, but less with physical disabilities, but what's the point being bothered if people are being assholes, so call Pat your big-eared friend, use it as an example someday

Talliesin

A school headmistress was careless in the terms she used to describe my sister.

The woman was terrified of my mum from that day forth.

FranknFurter

lol talliesin,

I must say I dont agree with the whole "It just means their ignorant" thing *..... problem with that is, some aint, its just down to the terminology they hear around them every day with some people.

And yes of course, the social model (person overrides disability) is the ideal, but the fact is a lot of people still dont know of the difference between the social model and the medical model.

I suppose thats the thing that bothers me, *that* difference,.... has never been explained properly, via media, education etc to the majority.

And In a way, its not just about terminology, its more about respect for the person as an individual,.... what he/she is comfortable with.... Im talking of course, about only if it is "relevant" to the conversation obviously, not the "this is paul, my disabled friend"... I doubt (and hope) that ever even happens much nowadays,

Squirrel

FranknFurter wrote:

lol talliesin,

I must say I dont agree with the whole "It just means their ignorant" thing *..... problem with that is, some aint, its just down to the terminology they hear around them every day with some people.

And yes of course, the social model (person overrides disability) is the ideal, but the fact is a lot of people still dont know of the difference between the social model and the medical model.

I suppose thats the thing that bothers me, *that* difference,.... has never been explained properly, via media, education etc to the majority.

And In a way, its not just about terminology, its more about respect for the person as an individual,.... what he/she is comfortable with.... Im talking of course, about only if it is "relevant" to the conversation obviously, not the "this is paul, my disabled friend"... I doubt (and hope) that ever even happens much nowadays,

If they show no respect for you **** them, seriously. They're not worth your time. If someone doesn't respect me for what ever reason I'll leave them to it, but I like to think that they've lost the opportunity to know me rather than vice-versa

snorlax

im a 3rd year Occupational therapy student and even we have politically correct terms to refer to the disabled community.

mental handicap (old term, only this year was the term mental handicap changed to learning or intellectual disability, eg look at the nursing courses in TCD)

other terms we use are for those with a person with a mental illness or a mental disability eg for those with depression/ schizophrenia

or a person whose physically handicaped(old term)= a person with a physical disability.

in some literature i have read (research articles etc) i have come across some derogatory terms such as crippled and handicapped, but for the most part we are instructed to use the "politically correct terms" in college.

personally i would rather see them as a person whose an individual rather then just a label/ term as this creates divsions and thus barriers and not just physical ones, attitudinal ones too.

FranknFurter

ooh, snorlax,.... if you're gonna be an OT, we should talk, I have wanted nothing more in this life than to tell an OT my experiences *before* they become borg-drones

b

snorlax

well pm me if you'v any questions etc, unfortunetly wer'e kinda under resourced and we'v long waiting list right acorssthe board so we probably don't give enough tinme to clients as we should, there's only around 400 practising OT's in tthe country at the mo.

most OT's are a little obsessed with ADL's (activities of daily living) , but don't spend enough time on what might be more important in the person' s lives eg facilitating leisure activities/ enabling them to join the work force. we are under time and resource pressure so alot of us are more intrested in seeing to the person's immediate concerns, eg pressure cushions for wheelchairs etc(to avoid pressure sores), enabling them to bath via a hoist/ bath lift, looking after their eatting/ adapting their house with a ramp etc.