Is "special" a negative or positive term?

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When you hear the word "special" or "exceptional", do you react differently, as if it carries a negative connotation pertaining to special needs, or person with exceptionalities (often referring to one with disabilities).

Do you think that society's use of the terms "special" and "exceptional" will make it negative similarly to the usage of queer to refer to LGBT's (no offense intended), since some people don't want to be called "special"?

I voted yes, but for a different reason.

When I think of the word "special", I think of people who try to be different from other people/think they're super unique and amazing. "Speshul snowflakes", essentially.

Considering humans look down on those who vary from the norm I'd say it is usually negative, but not always.

"Special" started being synonymous with "stupid" about 30 years ago, iirc, at least around here. I'm not aware that "exceptional" has the same connotation, but it might be a local thing or maybe I'm just not up to date.

I like the term, 'Special' because it reminds me of Sid from Flushed Away. :O) I have no problem with being called special. It's a lot better than some of the other words out there like the 'R' word and freak. I also don't have a problem with the word, 'Slow'. Compared to half of the people on WP, I am slow due to the fact that I think with my heart instead of being able to think logically. Not all Aspies are like Einstein. I'm much more like Mick Avory, simple and gentle.

I hate it. I think it's patronising. I'll occasionally use the term "SEN" (as in Special Educational Needs) because I work in a school setting and people understand what you mean. But I don't use it to describe myself of anyone else who has a disability.

When people tried to make the move away from being scared of disabled people and treating them really badly (granted, some people still are/do), they went a bit too far the other way and now people are scared to even suggest that a disabled person might be at all negative. I hear "You can't say that to a disabled person!" all the time. People think anyone with a disability is someone to be pitied or helped. "Special" to me, is the epitome of the "be nice to the disabled person" movement; like a person can't earn respect of their own, but should be automatically handed it along with their disability. It also perpetuates the myth that disabled people are "others" - different to the norm, but people can't possibly say that, so saying special is a way of saying it, but in a nicey-nicey way. I'm not sure what I despise more, hatred or patronisation (if that's even a word??)

As an old work colleague of mine used to say "Either we're all special, or none of us are special." It's also a word which has become an insult. People will now say "You're really special" rather than "You're really ret*d"

I much prefer the terms "Additional needs", "Access needs", "Individual needs" etc - it doesn't mean someone needs special treatment, it just means they might need some extra assistance with something.


As for reclaiming the term, like some of the LGBT community have done with the word queer, I think words like that go through cycles: being acceptable to use, becoming a bit out-dated and cringeworthy, not being used except by ignorant people, then starting to be reclaimed, then being widely reclaimed. "Special" is still between the first and second category I think. It's got a while to go before disability groups even stop using it, let alone the wider public.

My first thought when I see the word "special" is positive. Only from context can I gather that it is supposed to be negative on occasion.

There is the term "twice exceptional" which refers to a person who has both exceptional deficits and talents. So in that sense, exceptional on its own could refer to either disabilities that most people don't have or advantages that most people don't have.

Exceptional could be positive and suggest a person is superior in some way or it could be the opposite and suggest the person has some kind of shortcoming.

Word-finding difficulty...gah...hate this....what's the word that means you choose....Oh, yeah, euphemism.

I think it started out to be a euphemism, but now has taken on a pejorative meaning. Plus, some people are just annoying about it. I once had a woman (a SN teacher nonetheless) tell me "all kids have special needs." Um...yeah...right. Most kids don't require thousands of hours of 1:1 interventions to get caught up to their peers on simple every day tasks. Don't tell me all kids have "special" needs. But I digress...

My kids and I use "unique" and "rare" instead of "special." Because, truly, neither of them are exactly "special" but both of them are unique and rare. Thanks to games like Pokemon and the like, my kids think that being "rare" is about the best compliment they could ever receive! LOL!

I don't think either word has a positive or negative connotation on its own, but they kind of amplify the positivity or negativity that's already associated with the topic being discussed. Basically, they just emphasize the fact that something/someone falls outside of normal expectations, but say nothing on their own about whether that's in a positive or a negative way. The negative or positive connotation goes along with what kind of difference is being pointed out; using the words "special" and/or "exceptional" simply adds emphasis.

I was leaning toward yes, then I thought about how it could be used positively (such as "This is a special occasion").

I voted neutral.

special is a neutral word, wether is it positive or negative depends on context.
for example, if you use it as "this is a special sauce" then it is a neutral term.
"i did some special effort for you" is a positive way to use the term.

the most times it is used in some sentence like "that kid is special", but that can still be either positive or negative.
if it is said in a constant tone, it is positive, but if there is a pauze in the sentence, like "that kid is...'special'", makes it negative.

Depends on why you are considered special, and because of what.