Do You feel Being Called Disabled Insulting?

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EzraS
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01 Jun 2018, 12:14 am

I am disabled in more ways than just autism, so I definitely think of myself as disabled.

But if I wrote 'WP is a support forum for disabled people', would that offend you? And if so why?



naturalplastic
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01 Jun 2018, 12:24 am

Wouldn't offend me at all.



kraftiekortie
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01 Jun 2018, 5:34 am

Not offended.....but “disabled” is somewhat of a misnomer in many cases.

Ezra, for example, is “able” in some, perhaps many, things.



EzraS
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01 Jun 2018, 5:43 am

I was going to make a joke that it's ironic that a website/forum for disabled people is disabled itself. But then I pictured some people getting offended. Sometimes I don't know if I'm prudent or just being paranoid.

but I was also curious how people here would respond to the question in the title aside from that.



Last edited by EzraS on 01 Jun 2018, 5:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

kraftiekortie
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01 Jun 2018, 5:45 am

I would laugh. This Site irritates me when it acts stupid.

Maybe if we insult it by calling it “stupid,” it might become so angered that it becomes an intelligent being, and fixes itself.



MrsPeel
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01 Jun 2018, 6:12 am

Well, I lost my post, but trying again...

I was going to say that if the forum was labelled as for the disabled, I would feel excluded.
Because I'm close to the boundary between autistic and NT, mostly I don't feel disabled. It can be a problem for me, this in-between place, in which I can't quite pass as NT but neither am I seen as disabled - it feels like I don't fit in either world.
Occasionally, when I'm struggling, I think it might help to be recognised as disabled instead of held to NT standards. But then if I tell people about my Aspergers and they start making allowances, it hits my pride that they consider me less capable than before, and I wish I hadn't said anything.

Seems like the breadth of experience within the autistic community is a challenge in this way. Often it is the "mild" or "high functioning" who dominate debates here, so that the more severely affected feel left out. But if we start labelling autism as necessarily a disability, maybe people like me would be disenfranchised.

I wouldn't feel insulted, though, because disability is not a character flaw.



EzraS
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01 Jun 2018, 6:52 am

The in between world sounds very difficult. perhaps more difficult than being all the way there.



Daniel89
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01 Jun 2018, 6:59 am

Yeah autism is a disability and like most disabilities there is a spectrum of how disabled you are.



Benjamin the Donkey
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01 Jun 2018, 7:16 am

In my case, yes. Though I have trouble with some things that other people find easy, I also have abilities that exceed those of most "normal" people. So why aren't they considered disabled for not being able to do the things I can do easily? Simply because their strengths and weakness are typical, whereas mine are atypical.


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MrsPeel
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01 Jun 2018, 7:38 am

EzraS wrote:
The in between world sounds very difficult. perhaps more difficult than being all the way there.


Not as difficult, I think. Maybe I came across too negative. It can be isolating and challenging in some ways, but there's a big pay-off in having more independence and self-determination than those who are more obviously disabled. Overall, I wouldn't change things.



Daniel89
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01 Jun 2018, 8:15 am

Benjamin the Donkey wrote:
In my case, yes. Though I have trouble with some things that other people find easy, I also have abilities that exceed those of most "normal" people. So why aren't they considered disabled for not being able to do the things I can do easily? Simply because their strengths and weakness are typical, whereas mine are atypical.


Because we live in a very social society where normality and fitting in matters. There are plenty of very gifted people who fail to achieve anything significant in life because their social skills and how others treat them keep them from succeeding.



Arganger
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01 Jun 2018, 9:09 am

No, I'm disabled and I know it.


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kraftiekortie
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01 Jun 2018, 9:11 am

But the key...is to try to avoid being TREATED like you're disabled.



Arganger
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01 Jun 2018, 9:12 am

Benjamin the Donkey wrote:
In my case, yes. Though I have trouble with some things that other people find easy, I also have abilities that exceed those of most "normal" people. So why aren't they considered disabled for not being able to do the things I can do easily? Simply because their strengths and weakness are typical, whereas mine are atypical.


Very true, but in a world where our abilities and weaknesses are a minority, the world hasn't built itself around our needs. So our weaknesses aren't really supported and in this world, it becomes disabling.


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Suspected; PTSD (Treated, as my counselor did notice), possible PCOS, PMDD, Learning disabilities (Sure of it, unknown what they are), possibly something wrong with immune system (Sick about as much as I'm not) Possible EDS- hyper mobility type (Will be getting tested, suggested by doctor) dysautonomia


ASPartOfMe
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01 Jun 2018, 10:09 am

Annoying


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AceofPens
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01 Jun 2018, 11:14 am

No, because I'm one of the more obviously disabled sorts. I've seen higher-functioning autistics rail against the term, though, insisting that those with autism shouldn't be considered disabled because "they can achieve anything a neurotypical can, as long as they get a little extra help." I despise generalizations like that, but I'm willing to believe that there are autistics who aren't disabled. And I suppose those cases would consider the label offensive when applied to autism in general, since it would appear to exclude them. All the same, I can't find fault with it. I feel that the number of autistics who don't have a significant impairment in some sense must constitute a very slim percentage of the community as a whole.


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