Thank you so much for writing this. I was born with a disability in both hands. Luckily, it hasn't affected me too much though I had multiple surgeries as a child and adolescent. If I could, I would absolutely prefer to have two "normal" hands. It infuriates me that these luxury beliefs are being championed by anyone, let alone doctors.
Thank you so much for writing this. I was born with a disability in both hands. Luckily, it hasn't affected me too much though I had multiple surgeries as a child and adolescent. If I could, I would absolutely prefer to have two "normal" hands. It infuriates me that these luxury beliefs are being championed by anyone, let alone doctors.
In my experience, the people who insist that a disability is actually a strength have not lived with one and are ignorant of the hardships people with disabilities and their caregivers face.
Haven't they told you? You're just "differently abled"!
I remember the first time I heard that phrase wondering to myself why people in HR departments were speaking to grown adults as if they were children. I mean, I'm a lifelong liberal, but even I understand that not all disabilities are mental ones, and that the vast majority of people who have a disability do not need to be condescended to in such a way.
Such is the progressive obsession with language that we've actually come to believe we can eliminate suffering just by changing the way we talk about things. It's well intentioned, to an extent, but counterproductive all the same.
Agreed. It's cruel to define someone by a disability they have, but it seems worse than useless to pretend (and insist that everyone else pretend) that a disability is not a disability. Either it's not a disability (and thus requires no additional accommodation) or it is and we should stop being neurotic about how we talk about it.
Thank you so much for writing this. I was born with a disability in both hands. Luckily, it hasn't affected me too much though I had multiple surgeries as a child and adolescent. If I could, I would absolutely prefer to have two "normal" hands. It infuriates me that these luxury beliefs are being championed by anyone, let alone doctors.
In my experience, the people who insist that a disability is actually a strength have not lived with one and are ignorant of the hardships people with disabilities and their caregivers face.
Haven't they told you? You're just "differently abled"!
I remember the first time I heard that phrase wondering to myself why people in HR departments were speaking to grown adults as if they were children. I mean, I'm a lifelong liberal, but even I understand that not all disabilities are mental ones, and that the vast majority of people who have a disability do not need to be condescended to in such a way.
Such is the progressive obsession with language that we've actually come to believe we can eliminate suffering just by changing the way we talk about things. It's well intentioned, to an extent, but counterproductive all the same.
Agreed. It's cruel to define someone by a disability they have, but it seems worse than useless to pretend (and insist that everyone else pretend) that a disability is not a disability. Either it's not a disability (and thus requires no additional accommodation) or it is and we should stop being neurotic about how we talk about it.