> Do you know what The Disabled community call the rest of us? The Not Yet Disabled
A few years ago I was on crutches for about six months and there's nothing like first-hand experience to realize just how important those accommodations are.
> That's the real problem with being disabled: you're treated abnormally.
That's not been my experience: I've been treated normally.
I have not one but two disabilities: I'm an alcoholic/drug addict, and I'm a diabetic. I'm upfront about them, and people don't seem to care--they treat me the same as everyone else.
My take is that most people are so self-absorbed that they don't spend many cycles worrying about everyone else.
> I’m sorry you live in one of the worst countries in the world to be disabled in.
At least in the USA, the ADA ensures that many places are built to be wheelchair-accessible; bathrooms in public places have accommodations, grocery stores have ramps, stairs always have an alternative, etc
I'm pretty sure in most countries in the world, mobility would be far lower for the disabled.
> Have we as a society come to define disabilities so broadly that the term has basically become meaningless?
We’re getting close, but it’s okay. Expansion of the term has helped people and we’ll eventually come up with new common language to distinguish more and less catastrophic forms of disability.
> while someone with a placard pulls in and walks in - clearly a cheat
As you've also mentioned, I can't stress this enough - you don't have to look handicapped to have a disability.
Some people with disabilities can walk - but with difficulty. Some people with disabilities can't walk very far. Some people with disabilities can walk most of the time - but sometimes, their legs go out from under them, and why-the-hell-should-we-not-just-give-them-the-handicapped spot?
Both my mother, and my mother-in-law have disabilities. They suffer through them - and if it weren't for my mother-in-law's cane, at first glance, you wouldn't know.
>Some people simply aren't apt for the real world. That's sad but it's the truth.
Sure, but as civilized people and not savage beasts, we can accommodate them. In fact if we aren't already under some disability ourselves, we are still just an e.g. car accident away from being under one.
>> Crutches and leg braces: I saw many more people with crutches and leg braces walking around than I typically see in San Francisco. It was a striking difference, so I don't think it was just a fluke
Yeah, I was struck by this too, and I live in a small ish town down the East coast. There are so many more people with mild to significant disabilities, that are out and about than back Home (Greece, for me). Once I made the acquaintance of a remarkable lady of 92 years, who had just come back from meeting her school friends in London by train. On her own. She advised, me, if I plan to get to 90, to take care of my knees :)
Also, there's an astonishing number of fathers pushing prams and carrying their babies in slings, alone.
These are the good bits. Then again, there's the nasty surprises, like the homeless people sleeping it rough everywhere, as people go by, desensitised to the sight. Land of contradictions.
>By the way, though I hate the clunkiness of terminology like "people with disabilities", I think it's justified in this case. For me, the word "disabled", particularly in the context of employment, has the connotation of being unable to be productive. Some people's disabilities are severe enough that that's true of them, but that's not all of us, not by a long shot. Maybe I'm being over-sensitive about that, but I'm just telling you how I see it, for what it's worth.
*This is not aimed at the OP
I'm just going to go off on a tangent with you here 100%! I hate it when people say that I'm "wheelchair-bound" and I'm TOTALLY oversensitive to it, and I'm probably oversensitive to because the whole world is aggressively designed to make my life difficult. Not intentionally, there (probably) isn't some anti-disabled cabal going around making pavements uneven but when you live in a world that is hostile to you it's very easy to get sensitive to the language people use. Words have meanings. And I don't really care, I think we should band together and bann the word disabled. I think we should disable it.
By the way, the Germans have a great saying, they use "wheelchair driver". Now that I like.
> If you break your legs and spend a few months in a wheelchair, you might not feel legitimate to use the term "disabled" in comparison to someone who has never been able to walk and suffers more from it.
I would say "I am hungry" even if I have food in the fridge, I do not need to compare myself to poor starving people and decide to say "I am currently hungry" or "I am in a situation of hunger"
> Not letting that disabilty define you as a person. I am not disabled, I am Sunderw, a complicated person with many different aspects.
also I am still a complicated person and hungry does not define my personality.
> Including more person means reducing stigma and reducing the gap between abled/disabled.
Actually, taking too many steps to think of how to describe a person with a certain medical situation already increases the stigma, I would feel more bad if people try to avoid calling me "sick" so I don't feel bad about being sick, this is even worse.
Imagine calling a midget "A person with less height" or some nonsense like that.
> I'm going to come out and say that this is no different than a person born without arms claiming that they're not disabled, that they're not damaged.
You might want to look at the social model of disability, because there are people who do say this. For example, wheelchair using disability rights campaigners have often said that their wheelchairs are not the problem, but the lack of ramps in shops and workplaces is what causes them to be disabled.
> why should we have to cater to people who aren't normal?
Because (in the USA) the ADA exists, and has been shown to help even non disabled people. Elevators were mandated on multi floor buildings because of wheelchairs, but they have a benefit of also being available for non disabled people who have their hands full of groceries.
Also, what is “normal” to you won’t be the same as someone else. Is a wheelchair bound person normal? A highly autistic person? What about high functioning autism? If you’re going to define “normal”, you’d be drawing a line somewhere where you can’t please everyone.
>He uses a wheelchair but it’s a prop as he was found out to be able to walk.
I don't know anything about this guy specifically but I just want to point out many wheelchair users have some ability to stand and walk. Merely having the ability to walk doesn't necessarily mean someone's wheelchair is a "prop" or unnecessary.
> I was shocked visiting the UK just how many disabled people were on TV. Presenters of shows, in almost a half of adverts, etc. were in wheelchairs or had severe physical disability.
In the US, I have NEVER seen such a thing. Except maybe in commercials for medicine. or retirement-related things.
> So I imagine if you have a hidden disability, if you need accommodation, it's in your best interest for people to know that, so they can accommodate you.
In my experience, even if it is made known, people are less forgiving of non-visible disabilities and some that interact with the disabled individual less frequently may even forget that it exists. One may have to actively "display" their disability, even if they'd rather appear to be as normal as possible.
> And what’s wrong with disabilities anyway that makes you go ‘ugh’?
People officially regarded as disabled are often treated as 2nd class citizens, with all kinds of bizarre things done to them. Including sterilisation in some countries, which there are reports of still happening to this day. :(
> We absolutely could do a better job of helping people with various impairments make their lives work. Up to 60 percent of people have some degree of impairment but only about 15 or 20 percent self-identify as disabled. The people who are less impaired and are able to make their lives work without much accommodation tend to hide it or at least downplay it and don't call it a disability.
Doesn't the article, ie. the bit you quoted, suggest that this is good for them? How would identifying as disabled improve their life?
A few years ago I was on crutches for about six months and there's nothing like first-hand experience to realize just how important those accommodations are.
reply