Impaired? Disabled? Please help me understand

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Originally Posted by sandragonfly
please read this - and address us as deaf, not by this offensive term, hearing impaired. and this is for everyone who doesn't know too.
thank you.

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catsnclay:
My 'deaf' cousin and his 'deaf' wife do NOT like the term 'disabled' although now politically correct.

In his words: I AM deaf, I cannot hear - I deal with it. I am NOT impaired, so please don't refer to me as 'impaired'.

I too have a 'disability' and do NOT like to be called 'disabled'. I AM a ABLE body person, I just cannot do as much as I like.
There are no "handicaps" except the ones we accept - and I accept none in my life.

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Sandragonfly and Catsnclay - Would you enlighten me, please? I worked at a rehab hospital for almost 10 years after graduation from nursing school. I've been gone from there over 10 years so not as in-touch with it as I used to be... one term I recall, like disability vs disabled, is that one doesn't refer to a person with a spinal cord injury as "a paraplegic" but a person with paraplegia. Also mentally retarded has fallen out of favor. But I didn't know that hearing impaired is an incorrect term. catsnclay, what's your take on the expression "differently abled", that does not seem to have caught on as an accepted way of referring to a person with a disability. Formerly known as a handicapped person. Thank goodness they only use that to refer to parking spaces anymore and even that not so much - I've seen signs that refer to 'accessible' parking and I like that better. Does impaired still carry some connotation of being under the influence of alcohol (or drugs, or something else addicting)?


Thanks :)

Well, me personally, I do not like the word "disabled". A car that isn't running is disabled, but a person that has one or more problems - disabled? I think not, sorry.


This Political Correctness just gets way out of control sometimes, IMO We have to be careful as to what we say to whom we speak so we do not upset someone or some group.

Technically I am "disabled" but if you look at me I appear normal, just as Gina. We both walk around, are able to drive, cook, clean and do everyday normal things. Only Gina cannot hear and I cannot do too much walking because I have both of my hips replaced and back problems. But like I said, put us next to each other and just to look at us, you cannot tell what our problems are........so does that make us "disabled"????

Maybe it is me, but that word just makes me cringe. I am not broken and to me that is what disabled means.

Differently Abled is good, but your right it won't catch on.

IMO we ALL have some sort of problem wether it is medical, emotional or physical, or whatever - but to me the word "disable" means broken down, not usable - and I am not that!!

It is a pretty sad world when you have to think carefully about the words we choose to use before we speak.

I'm sure nobody meant anything bad when they refered to Gina as deaf, and yes now ther correct term is 'hearing impared' or when the kids laughed at me when I was growing up because I was short, they called me a 'midget' - which IS derogotory word, but now the correct term is "Little Person"; or the person who has to think a littler harder is "slow" or the "fat" kid.......I can go on and on and I think we all know that when we refer to people as short, fat, dumb or deaf we are not intending to hurt them, it is just something that we say.......without thinking & being Politically Correct.

I hope I answered your questions.......now let's hear Gina's side of it.


Gina???

No, no, the term Gina prefers is deaf, or hard of hearing, instead of hearing impaired.

Me, I hear fine out of one ear, and deaf out of the other, and people seem to understand if I say, "Sorry, I'm a little hearing impaired, could you repeat that?"

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Originally Posted by Catsnclay

I'm sure nobody meant anything bad when they refered to Gina as deaf, and yes now the correct term is 'hearing impared'

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But according to Gina its the opposite. She is deaf NOT hearing impaired. But yet someone else (who will remain anonymous but is also hearing impaired)tells me that it is the opposite. That they are hearing impaired and not deaf, that Deaf is the derogatory word. So is it a personal preference?

Is Handicapped also a derogatory term? I'm just asking- throwing that in the question.(not trying to offend)
I work with a woman who had her leg cut off in the power take-off at about 7 years old - she is an amputee. But I would never consider her disabled or handicapped b/c she just as CNC said - does everything that we do. (and more) It goes along the lines of seeing a person with a handicapped sticker on their vehicle - hop out of the car and run into the store - they look perfectly healthy. There is a chance that they borrowed the car, but just by looking at the person you don't know if they indeed are handicapped. They like CNC can have limb replacements, pacemakers, lung diseases, cancers, etc. Just b/c you can't 'see' the "problem".
While I don't know this guy personally my dad knows of a guy who was 2 years old got BOTH of his arms cut off in an auger on the family farm. We saw him when he was about 16, CANOEING with friends, he held the oar in b/n his chin and neck. Years later my dad ran into him working on a farm, he drove a semi, car, tractor, welded, sawed, climbed UP into a tractor and semi, and ate all with his FEET. He was married with I think a child or 2 at the time. He went out to eat with his coworkers and while they did have to get out his wallet and carry his tray for him, he unwrapped the sandwich himself and eats with his FEET. I remember watching a blurb on TV about a mom that had no arms (I think she was born without them) and it showed her changing diapers with her feet.
I just looked up the word handicap
1hand·i·cap
Pronunciation: 'han-di-"kap, -dE-
Function: noun
Etymology: obsolete English handicap, a game in which forfeit money was held in a cap, from hand in cap
1 a : a race or contest in which an artificial advantage is given or disadvantage imposed on a contestant to equalize chances of winning b : an advantage given or disadvantage imposed usually in the form of points, strokes, weight to be carried, or distance from the target or goal
2 a : a disadvantage that makes achievement unusually difficult b sometimes offensive : a physical disability
personally I think that sounds MUCH more offensive than impaired.
Main Entry: im·paired
Pronunciation: \-ˈperd\
Function: adjective
Date: 1582
: being in a less than perfect or whole condition: as a: disabled or functionally defective —often used in combination <hearing-impaired> b: intoxicated by alcohol or narcotics <driving while impaired>
disabled
disabled
Function: adjective
Date: 1633
: incapacitated by illness or injury; also : physically or mentally impaired in a way that substantially limits activity especially in relation to employment or education
so in that respect the only person that is TRULY disabled is a person who is in a coma?? That would be correct?
I'm sure it is a long standing debate.
But definatley an interesting topic and one I hope to learn on without fear of being offensive.

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they called me a 'midget' - which IS derogotory word, but now the correct term is "Little Person"

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A friend of mine borrowed the acronym "PORG" from an author and uses it cheerfully - it stands for "Person Of Restricted Growth". :D

I understand the dilemma - with ADD and clinical depression, they are chemical imbalances just like diabetes or Parkinson's. In the true context, they are 'mental illnesses' but that term is REALLY loaded.

Maybe one day, like Parkinson's, they may be seen as neurological. Detailed scans of ADD and depressive brains show they ARE different than those without the illness.

I was just told of this program and thought some of you might be interested also:

This Friday 7/27 ABC's 20/20 will be airing a segment "The Extraordinary Spirit that Helps Giants and Dwarfs Adapt to Life." It will feature the Campbell family (Mark, Susie, Joshua and Suscha) from Maryland,along with a lady from Indiana with gigantism. 20/20 is also showing clips from the upcoming documentary on National Geographic. The documentary (which also features a young man from Connecticut with Primordial) will show two segments, 1)Science of Dwarfism 2)Science of Gigantism. These shows are done with education in mind.
ABC 20/20 Friday 7/27@10pm...


National Geographic Monday 7/30@9pm.



Some cable providers do not offer the National Geographic channel