This morning on Bill Bennett’s radio show, they interviewed a spokesman for the Special Olympics.
Nothing wrong with that. I have no objection to the Special Olympics per se.
However, I found the spokesman irritating. He never said “mentally disabled”–that’s no surprise. People are expected to say “mentally challenged” nowadays (I think. I may have missed a memo and be a step behind).
But he didn’t say “mentally challenged” either. He used some circumlocution like “people with intellectual differences.” And he kept talking, again and again, about how people with intellectual differences were NO DIFFERENT FROM ANYONE ELSE.
I’m getting tired of this.
Logically, it seems to me, there are only two choices.
You can say, “I want to be treated just like everyone else.” Great. That’s fine. Then don’t ask for special accommodations.
Or you can say, “I need special accommodations.” That’s fine too. But if that’s what you want, don’t pretend you’re NO DIFFERENT FROM ANYONE ELSE. People who are no different from anyone else don’t need special accommodations.
I have a mild handicap. I suffer from an emotional disorder. I don’t hide this, and I let the people who become my friends know about it. I expect them to cut me a little slack, to have different expectations of me, because certain things that normal people can do easily are very, very hard for me.
I’m different from everyone else.
A lot of people in this country seem to think they can change their neighbors’ attitudes through silencing certain words that offend them. It doesn’t work. It just drives people’s attitudes underground, and breeds resentment.
I would never call a person with a mental disability a dummy. But I might use the word to describe some of their advocates.
A couple of months ago my husband was in a wheelchair again (it comes and goes) and someone sent us an article about a nearby park opening that was fully-handicapped accessible. Which was a nice thought, since we like to take the kids to the park.
Only, according to the article, it wasn’t handicapped-accessible. It was for the “differently abled” or some such nonsense. Being unable to walk is not a different ability, like being able to fly or something. It’s a disability, and it’s a pain.
There are different physical abilities, and differing mental abilities, but those don’t qualify you for the Special Olympics.
There is an ancient Klingon belief that reality is based on perception. When faced with a brick wall, close your eyes and forget it. Then charge forward, sure that the brick wall is not actually there.
This is the reason Klingon foreheads have those huge scars on them.
I once knew a man in a wheelchair who got really riled up if you dared call him “disabled.” He was not “disabled,” he was “mislabled.” Talk about an eyeroller. On the Internet forum I knew him from, he was often quoting “Mouth Magazine.” Then another member looked it up and posted the full title of this periodical–“Mouth Magazine: The Voice of Disability Rights.” But Jaggy was willing to give them a pass “because they do such good work.”
@ Ori: Thanks for the laugh! 😀