Correct Terminology

[IllumFan]

Hi everyone -- please don't flame me if I unintentionally word the following incorrectly.

I've been spending more time on these boards trying to plan a trip with my MIL who has health and mobility issues. I've been asking some questions and will probably be asking more.

I'm not sure what the correct terminology is and want to be sensitive to all. For example, is it correct to say disability or handicap? I thought it was disability but then parking spaces are called handicap spaces.

Bottom line is that I want to be sensitive to all and if I accidentally use the wrong terms from ignorance, please know that it is just that -- ignorance and not insensitivity.

If anyone could tell me what terminology I should use and what I should stay away from, it would be a great education for me and for others without disabilities who visit this board and may not be aware of how to ask questions correctly.

Thanks.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I believe that the term that is in vogue right now is disability. It seems that most pepole do not like the word handicap. I have also heard people say "differently abled".

Honestly, what is the preferred term for one person is offensive to another, and terms come in and out of vogue. The most agreed upon is disability, and don't forget to use people first language. For example, your mother uses a wheelchair, not your wheelchair bound mother. Many people do not like to be defined by their disability.

The other thing is to try to avoid use of inflammatory terms such as retard, cripple, midget, etc. Those terms have come to have some incredibly negative connotations in our society, so they are no longer accepted.

Anyway, the people on here understand when there is a new poster, and very rarely do I see anybody say anything about the termionlogy somebody is using- and then they say it in a nice way (unless the post was obviously meant to be taken as insult). I hope this helps!

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with Eeyores Butterfly.

Whatever words are used, there may be some who don't like that term. But, she hit the most usual ones.

Welcome to disABILITIES and thank you for your efforts to not make any wrong steps.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I'd like to agree with the other posters, although I'll admit that there are a couple terms I react to very viscerally to and generally will mention something (if someone else hasn't), UNLESS they are using them about themselves. The two that come to mind are "retard" (not because it effects me personally, but because it's so prevalent and hard to get people to understand what they're saying when they use it) and "confined to a wheelchair" (because my wheelchair is what gives me my freedom to not be "confined" mentally or physically). I do try to be polite!

I know I personally prefer "disabled" and "disability" to the various words based on "handicap", but that's really due to political reasons that don't really apply here. I certainly don't care if others use either one. I'm not a huge fan of "differently abled", but again, don't generally care if someone else uses it (especially on a board like this one). I'd say most people these days don't use "cripple" or its variations because they are generally seen as offensive, although they're also words that are starting to be reclaimed (I certainly refer to myself as a "crip" sometimes, or occasionally a 'raspberry' because of cockney rhyming slang).

But generally, especially on a board like this one, most people don't care. And I'm sure I just gave you a much longer explanation on the language than you needed, but it's one of those things that I find fascinating. (I could start talking about the difference between "people with disabilities" and "disabled people" too, but I suspect that's really too involved as it's both a political thing and something based on location to which people find more acceptable )

Also, I appreciate that you asked the question. So many people assume one way or another or just don't even think about it

 

[mechurchlady]

I abhor "That's so Gay" and retard in a conversation. I say I have brain quirks, neurovariations, and disabled. I will park in the handicapped spot though as I am handicapped. I do not like cripple or gimp or lame. REally all that matters is that you do not call me late for a gluten free meal.

I saw one of the commercials from this ad campaign and was laughing and doing an internal happy dance. We need some of these for the word "retarded"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS0GVOQPs0

I agree that context is important also. I "confined to a wheelchair" to discribe mom as she will not get her rump out of that chair and walk even though she could have and should have. She is mentally confined., hrmph.


The only people around this board that bite are the ones that have not had lunch. I like this board as people like Sue keep an eye on the board and help this place stay friendly and good.
Hugs Sue then hands her a large box of chocolates.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

If anyone could tell me what terminology I should use and what I should stay away from, it would be a great education for me and for others without disabilities who visit this board and may not be aware of how to ask questions correctly.

Thanks.

My wife is a professional in the mental health field.

Internally in her clinic, and between staff members only, they use words to categorise their patients. Gradually, these words become common useage in the general public, and are often used as words of abuse. These words therefore become 'politically incorrect' and mental health professionals had to find new 'politically correct' terms for their patients. In time, these words or phrases also slide into common use and are used as terms of abuse. Health professionals then have to find yet more phrases to describe their patients.

The same is true for physical disabilities. Go back a few years and I would have described myself as 'handicapped' or 'confined to a wheelchair'. Now I have 'limited mobility' or 'use a wheelchair'.

I also think it depends a little on who you are talking to. If I am talking to another wheelchair user, I might use terms or phrases, that I would be offended by if used by someone who didn't share my mobility problems.

This 'disABILITIES' is frequented mostly by people with close knowledge of disabilities, so here, perhaps, slighly less politically correct language is permissable. Even so, beware that different people have different threasholds of tollerance, and that you never know how anyone will react to a comment on a public board.

Andrew

 

[BeckyScott]

Another thing that really irks me is the term "suffers from", as in my son suffers from autism. He's not suffering. Some people, some conditions, it might be an accurate description; but it tends to be widely used for many things.

 

[lorac4disney]

I know the sensitive ground you walk on. As a parent of a "disabled" child, I strongly prefer the term "differently abled". Disabled only focuses on my baby's weaknesses. Differently abled focuses on what she does offer. Still yet, handicapped (hand in cap as if a street beggar by historical terms) is the actual legal term which I truly resent. My daughter is wealthier than most in her own right. She does not have to beg for sustainance.

I belong to the philosophy that no man is an island unto himself. All humans are dependent upon others to differing degrees according to their individual abilities. Fully abled people are not truly fully abled. I have yet to meet a single person who is fully able to feed, cloth, shelter, benefit, and rely on their own isolated selves to provide EVERYTHING that they or their families could ever want and need.

We as humans are all interdependent. We are social creatures born of a fundamentally social nature. Our needs of others are dictated by our differing abilities. Can every adult slaughter and butcher up their own meat? Can every adult plant, grow, harvest, and mill their own grains? Can every adult grow, kill or harvest, and weave their own cloth?

The flat answer is NO. If dictated by the true term of the meaning, that would define all humans from all walks of life as disbabled due to our inability to be an island unto ourselves. No person that I have ever met in any walk of life has ever been truly and totally self-sufficient. We all depend on each other. Our disabled or differently abled are no different. In short, we are all differently abled. It's time to stop drawing straws.

 

[carj]

I prefer the "person first" description. As in " child who has ...." I don't usually say the the "child is..." because whatever condition, illness, etc.. isn't what they ARE. I hope that makes sense.

Mostly though, I don't get too upset unless the people are completely insensitive and rude.

 

[merryweather20]

I think rather than using any sort of labels, focus on what your mother needs. If you focus on what her needs are it will be easier to get the best answer to your question.

If I phone a restaurant and say "I'm disabled/differently abled/handicapped can you accomodate us?" it doesn't get the employee alot of information to answer your question.

If you say instead, "I use a wheel-chair, are there stairs in your restaurant? can we bring our own specialized cutlery? etc."

Nothing offends me, but "differently abled" does bug me. It focuses on calling someone with Autism or a wheel-chair "different". When really its just a diagnosis, and a mobility aid, these things don't make any one different. The truth is all people are differently abled, because thats how humans work. My Mom can cook, my brother can't, but that doesn't really make them "different" just human, so I don't want to be labeled as different either.

 

[alizesmom]

I really appreciate that you are concerned enough to ask. Thank you. Karen

 

[SueM in MN]

If I phone a restaurant and say "I'm disabled/differently abled/handicapped can you accomodate us?" it doesn't get the employee alot of information to answer your question.

If you say instead, "I use a wheel-chair, are there stairs in your restaurant? can we bring our own specialized cutlery? etc."

That is always good advice.
No matter how helpful someone might want to be, if they don't know what your needs are, they won't be able to help you to the best expense.

One thing that is very obvious to anyone reading these boards is how very different people are, even when they have the same condition or are using the same adaptive equipment.
One person might be using a wheelchair and can get out of it fairly easily to get on rides/transfer to a theater seat, etc.
Someone else might have great difficulty or not be able to get out at all.

The terms that bother me are the ones that:
were (and, in many cases are) medical terms that have been taken out of that 'world' and are being used as insults (especially 'retarded')
'tie' someone to a piece of adaptive equipment (I very much dislike the term 'wheelchair bound' because like someone else mentioned, my DD's wheelchairs represent freedom to move to her).
say someone is 'dependent' on some piece of equipment, such as my DD is 'dependent on a computerized communication device.' She uses it to talk, she isn't dependent on it.

I am going to move this thread to the disABILITIES COMMUNITY Board because it is a more general discussion about disabilities and will fit better there.