12 replies to this topic

[MX Crash]

I have a hard time dealing with the word disabled. One of the words meanings is (inoperative) I function every day whether I want to or not. The chronic pain we deal with every day must make us disabled,well I guess not because I still deal with getting the kids going and then go to work every day. So are we disabled or are we the strong willed that choose to go on every day and live our lives to the best of our abilities. For some reason I will not accept that I'm disabled and I hope none of you will because we have no choice with what we do to continue on with life. I realize my life will never be the same but I will continue to live it to the best of my ability. I can hope that in our future there will be a cure for future sci patients,and the term disabled can have the word temporarily inoperative as its meaning.Good luck and god bless to all sci people with the will to survive.
Mxcrash

[juls]

I stayed at a hotel the other night and the room was for the 'physically challenged'!
I thought this was more appropriate then disabled

[Andrew Meddings]

i agree i am not into pollitical correctnes but i found myself argueing this point the other day. my arguement to him was. is he disabled because he cant run the 100m in under 10 seconds or swim 1500m .a blind person can feel vibrations & has great hearing. when the lights go out you are lost do you have a dissability ?
is a snake disabled because it has no legs or are humans disabled because they cant slither up a tree . are fish disabled because they cant live out of water or are humans who cant breathe underwater
i find in my day to day life i would do more than most so called ab's everyone has somthing which they can do better than most & some things which they just cant do . i say if being perfect phisically & mentally is abled then everyone has a dissability just some stand out more than otherd

[Deej]

I think the word 'handicapped' actually has a better literal meaning. as we are all able to do different things to different extents. I mean you can have a golf handicap can't you? However, this term seems to have been 'poo-pooed' in the disability world by the p.c. clan !!!

[edlee]

I agree with DEEJ about the word handicapped. It does seem to describe the situation the best.

But, then, not being on the politically correct bandwagon, I personly don't care if they call me a cripple. Other people's descriptive terms and attitudes don't bother me at all. If you are confident and comfortable with who and what you are, nothing anyone can say will affect that. If you aren't then you are the one who needs an attitude adjustment.

[brackman22]

This topic has been thrown around at least one time since I've been here. There are so many terms used to describe our condition or us. Not surprising is the fact that the members of this forum have extremely diverse opinions regarding how we should be referred to and what "labels" are deemed appropriate. It is dependent on who the person using the term is and/or the context of the situation.

Some of the logic was interesting. There were people who would rip apart a person who called them crippled but their nickname within the family was crippled mama or something. Some would go out in public and their friends would pretend to be cruel to them and call them crippled or something and they would have a good laugh.

The bottom line is we all have different opinions as to what is an appropriate term. Even so, many SCI's with the exact same injury expected the public at large be educated regarding how to address them. That's an impossible task when even I am not sure how to refer to someone with the exact same injury as mine without offending him or her!

One more thing. It is interesting that both deej and edlee prefer the word handicapped. I used to have a quote in my signature with the word handicapped. I received a pm from an offended member. The origin of the word was where the offense lied. Apparently, the bums who sat on the sidewalks, back in the early 1900s I believe, used to hold out their caps with their hand to beg for change. So it kind of evolved from hand to cap to handicap. That is the essence of what I was told and may not be completely accurate.

I really don't care what term is used as long as it is not intended to offend. I'm sure disabled will fall by the wayside (the terms physically challenged and differently abled are grabbing hold) and there will be a new term to use for a while. Then another discussion like this will keep the cycle going.

Brett

[Tinbasher]

MX Crash, on Apr 3 2007, 12:22 AM, said:

I have a hard time dealing with the word disabled. One of the words meanings is (inoperative) I function every day whether I want to or not. The chronic pain we deal with every day must make us disabled,well I guess not because I still deal with getting the kids going and then go to work every day. So are we disabled or are we the strong willed that choose to go on every day and live our lives to the best of our abilities. For some reason I will not accept that I'm disabled and I hope none of you will because we have no choice with what we do to continue on with life. I realize my life will never be the same but I will continue to live it to the best of my ability. I can hope that in our future there will be a cure for future sci patients,and the term disabled can have the word temporarily inoperative as its meaning.Good luck and god bless to all sci people with the will to survive.
Mxcrash

It really depends on what you are trying to describe. If you are describing the loss of function, pain and all the personal physical effects of SCI then personally I prefer IMPAIRMENT.

"My Spinal Cord Injury has left me with a PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT."

Currently there is no solution to "cure" that impairment.

How ever if you are describing the experience of being somone with a PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT who lives in a world designed, organised and controlled to suit the needs of a majority. Then I prefer the term DISABLED. Used in the same way as DISenfranchised, DISempowered, DISadvantaged. Much of what I cannot do (in terms of leading an ordinary life) are difficult or impossible because of lack of access, stereotyping, organisational and other barriers placed in my way.

"The way society is organised makes me a DISABLED PERSON."

There IS a cure for this and it is polictical and social change.

I may always have an IMPAIRMENT, I need not always be DISABLED.

Terms like Challenged, Handicapable, Special Needs, dis ABLED, Differently Abled just miss the point.

It is not our difference that makes our life difficult it is societys reaction to that difference.

Tom

[MX Crash]

Tinbasher, on Apr 4 2007, 11:59 AM, said:

MX Crash, on Apr 3 2007, 12:22 AM, said:

I have a hard time dealing with the word disabled. One of the words meanings is (inoperative) I function every day whether I want to or not. The chronic pain we deal with every day must make us disabled,well I guess not because I still deal with getting the kids going and then go to work every day. So are we disabled or are we the strong willed that choose to go on every day and live our lives to the best of our abilities. For some reason I will not accept that I'm disabled and I hope none of you will because we have no choice with what we do to continue on with life. I realize my life will never be the same but I will continue to live it to the best of my ability. I can hope that in our future there will be a cure for future sci patients,and the term disabled can have the word temporarily inoperative as its meaning.Good luck and god bless to all sci people with the will to survive.
Mxcrash

It really depends on what you are trying to describe. If you are describing the loss of function, pain and all the personal physical effects of SCI then personally I prefer IMPAIRMENT.

"My Spinal Cord Injury has left me with a PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT."

Currently there is no solution to "cure" that impairment.

How ever if you are describing the experience of being somone with a PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT who lives in a world designed, organised and controlled to suit the needs of a majority. Then I prefer the term DISABLED. Used in the same way as DISenfranchised, DISempowered, DISadvantaged. Much of what I cannot do (in terms of leading an ordinary life) are difficult or impossible because of lack of access, stereotyping, organisational and other barriers placed in my way.

"The way society is organised makes me a DISABLED PERSON."

There IS a cure for this and it is polictical and social change.in

I may always have an IMPAIRMENT, I need not always be DISABLED.

Terms like Challenged, Handicapable, Special Needs, dis ABLED, Differently Abled just miss the point.

It is not our difference that makes our life difficult it is societys reaction to that difference.

Tom

Tom I think the point I was trying to make was taken the wrong way. I frankly don't care if some one calls me a freak of nature, but to be classified as disabled (inoperative) is insulting to me as a person. My life hasn't changed to that great of extent, mostly because I have not let it. I work every day , I take care of my family, and yes deal with my impairments. I guess what i was trying to say is I'm far from being broken and I try harder to function in society than a abled body person. Well I'm done bitchen, good luck to every one know matter your classifcation.

Mxcrash

Tinbasher, on Apr 4 2007, 11:59 AM, said:

MX Crash, on Apr 3 2007, 12:22 AM, said:

I have a hard time dealing with the word disabled. One of the words meanings is (inoperative) I function every day whether I want to or not. The chronic pain we deal with every day must make us disabled,well I guess not because I still deal with getting the kids going and then go to work every day. So are we disabled or are we the strong willed that choose to go on every day and live our lives to the best of our abilities. For some reason I will not accept that I'm disabled and I hope none of you will because we have no choice with what we do to continue on with life. I realize my life will never be the same but I will continue to live it to the best of my ability. I can hope that in our future there will be a cure for future sci patients,and the term disabled can have the word temporarily inoperative as its meaning.Good luck and god bless to all sci people with the will to survive.
Mxcrash

It really depends on what you are trying to describe. If you are describing the loss of function, pain and all the personal physical effects of SCI then personally I prefer IMPAIRMENT.

"My Spinal Cord Injury has left me with a PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT."

Currently there is no solution to "cure" that impairment.

How ever if you are describing the experience of being somone with a PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT who lives in a world designed, organised and controlled to suit the needs of a majority. Then I prefer the term DISABLED. Used in the same way as DISenfranchised, DISempowered, DISadvantaged. Much of what I cannot do (in terms of leading an ordinary life) are difficult or impossible because of lack of access, stereotyping, organisational and other barriers placed in my way.

"The way society is organised makes me a DISABLED PERSON."

There IS a cure for this and it is polictical and social change.in

I may always have an IMPAIRMENT, I need not always be DISABLED.

Terms like Challenged, Handicapable, Special Needs, dis ABLED, Differently Abled just miss the point.

It is not our difference that makes our life difficult it is societys reaction to that difference.

Tom

Tom I think the point I was trying to make was taken the wrong way. I frankly don't care if some one calls me a freak of nature, but to be classified as disabled (inoperative) is insulting to me as a person. My life hasn't changed to that great of extent, mostly because I have not let it. I work every day , I take care of my family, and yes deal with my impairments. I guess what i was trying to say is I'm far from being broken and I try harder to function in society than a abled body person. Well I'm done bitchen, good luck to every one know matter your classifcation.

Mxcrash

[WheelsWithAttitude]

I really do not have a problem with neither term.

I guess I am disabled, in that there are, whether I like it or not, things I can no longer do or not do as an able bodied person can.

Disabled takes into account, I think, the way a 'normal' person can function and I do not function that way any more.
So yeah, i guess i am disabled...I don't know but 'physially challenged' does not really strike me as the term I could identify with, even though, yes, it is a challenge to live with SCI.

The term handicapped (Behindert in german) is ok to use to, when I introduce myself I find i use this word more than any other to describe my impairment.

maybe because it I have always used it, before I was injured or i don't know...it just does not bother me anymore because yes i am handicapped and more handicapped in everday things than I am being 'challenged'.


Just my two cents...

[Dancingdolphin]

I like the term DISabled....Do It Sitting abled........got that explanation from somebody here ages ago..

[brackman22]

Dancingdolphin, on Apr 4 2007, 12:48 PM, said:

I like the term DISabled....Do It Sitting abled........got that explanation from somebody here ages ago..

Now if that's not putting a positve spin on a negative term, I don't know what is!

[MX Crash]

I would have to give that one two thumbs up also brackman22,now that I think of it lifes to short to let some politicaly in correct word pee you off!!!!!!!

Mxcrash

[LuckyinKentucky]

A tomatoe is still a tomatoe regardless of how you say it. Only when it is thrown at me with negative intent will it anger me!