Some of our most common, ingrained expressions have damaging effects on millions of people – and many of us don't know we're hurting others when we speak.
As a disabled person, I face ableism and ableist language every day. Some people use ableist language without even knowing that it is ableist. I thought it would be good for folks to take a look at the attached BBC article and expand their perspectives a bit.
I don’t feel that I can describe the… pride of being unique to people who haven’t felt it. It feels so natural that of course a non-disabled person would want to maximize their fitness and freedom and essentially not have the same concerns and certainly not have a community over an innate quality of themselves.
Asking people to remove these phrases is asking them to be mindful of their communication, asking them to be considerate and empathetic. And it’s so easy to slip back in, I was raised on these phrases.
But I will tell you the journey is rewarding. It’s opened me up to friendship with people who would write me off if I did use this language, people who wouldn’t share their perspective on life if I hadn’t put the effort in. That discomfort with talking to disabled people that I felt as a teen? That’s gone. I see mentally and physically disabled people as human, with all the same ability to show me or teach me something as anyone else. It feels great, like a weight off of my shoulders.
Being mindful about language also forces us to be more critical of what we’re saying. Using an insult or slur is easy. Needing to avoid it means that we need to use our minds to engage with why we don’t like something, and that can be legitimately enlightening.
Yeah. I’ve seen so much discourse over use of the R-slur. To some, it was obvious long ago. But few of us are so gifted with that foresight, and I stopped using it… last year!
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I don’t feel that I can describe the… pride of being unique to people who haven’t felt it. It feels so natural that of course a non-disabled person would want to maximize their fitness and freedom and essentially not have the same concerns and certainly not have a community over an innate quality of themselves.
Asking people to remove these phrases is asking them to be mindful of their communication, asking them to be considerate and empathetic. And it’s so easy to slip back in, I was raised on these phrases.
But I will tell you the journey is rewarding. It’s opened me up to friendship with people who would write me off if I did use this language, people who wouldn’t share their perspective on life if I hadn’t put the effort in. That discomfort with talking to disabled people that I felt as a teen? That’s gone. I see mentally and physically disabled people as human, with all the same ability to show me or teach me something as anyone else. It feels great, like a weight off of my shoulders.
Being mindful about language also forces us to be more critical of what we’re saying. Using an insult or slur is easy. Needing to avoid it means that we need to use our minds to engage with why we don’t like something, and that can be legitimately enlightening.
Yeah. I’ve seen so much discourse over use of the R-slur. To some, it was obvious long ago. But few of us are so gifted with that foresight, and I stopped using it… last year!