BellaOnline Forums News and Politics Human Rights Ableist language challenge

I wrote about ableist language today and why we should stop using it. My challenge for you is to pay attention to how often in a day you use ableist language and to figure out ways that you can replace those words with better ones.

Hi Andria. Your post has surely been too long ignored! I hope you won't mind if I point out that avoiding what you call "ableist language" is almost impossible, without conversation grinding to a halt. Even the term "disabled individuals" is dodgy. Every person I know is disabled in one way or another. I am *old* and therefore *walk slowly* and am somewhat *clumsy*. Now, should I object to those three words I've marked with asterisks? Surely not. That would be both *silly* and *hyper-sensitive*. Being *old*, I am subject to some *debilitation*, *with medical problems*; my sciatica has made me something of a *cripple*. That's a lot of asterisks, isn't it?! What do you reckon?

How about instead of handicapped we use handi-capable? I think handicapped focuses on one or two elements that attempt to define someone and strip them of their capabilities.

But, Daisy, someone with only one leg has already been stripped of several capabilities - the ability to walk without artificial aids, for one. And - as in the famous sketch by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore - the ability to audition successfully for the part of Tarzan, for another. Don't you think too much PC would distort the English language out of all recognition?

I don't like PC at all. I'm just suggesting that we don't describe and limit ourselves with our own language.