Read on Twitter
I tweeted this because I attended a talk about equity and inclusion with 600+ other folks where we were told that "differently abled" is preferable to "disabled" because disabled is negative/limiting. 1/5 https://twitter.com/caitskirby/status/1304109064721444864
I'm not calling anyone out - they genuinely didn't know better. But now 600 people are going to call their disabled colleagues and students "differently abled" and perhaps even correct someone who uses the word "disabled." 2/5
The implication that being disabled is so bad that we need to come up with alternative words is demeaning to folks who identify as disabled and will likely scare people away from embracing their disabled identity.3/5
If you polled disabled folks, "differently abled" would lose in a landslide. Don't believe me? The disabled community is active and thriving here on Twitter. Just look around. 4/5
Disability is something that can and should be celebrated. Disability should not be hidden behind euphemisms and flowery language. Hermione Granger said, "fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." I'm not afraid of disability, why are you? 5/5
This thread has touched on the medical and social models of disability a few times, so I'll share a bit of info about those. 6/n
The medical model of disability treats disability as something wrong with an individual that needs to be fixed by repairing the individual, finding treatments or cures. The responsibility for managing the disability lies solely with the disabled person. 7/n
The social model of disability treats disability as something wrong with society and systems that are not accessible to those with disabilities. The responsibility for managing the disability lies with society at large to provide accommodations. 8/n
An example: I stutter. The medical model works really hard to train me to say words without stuttering. It takes time, energy, and lots of money with speech pathologists & technology. The social model suggests that people just be more patient and give me more time to talk. 9/n
