Differently Abled! Really??

There are many things I disagree with and the usage 'Differently Abled' is among few others on the top.

When I first started working as an Occupational therapist in 1999, the word 'Mentally retarded' was common.  It did feel then (and does even now), quite a 'disgraceful' word to use when referring to an individual, though I agree it was a 100 times better than a couple of its predecessors, which I prefer not to name. 

Mental retardation slowly evolved to 'Intellectual Disability' which stole the show for a brief while before giving way to include specific tags like 'Learning Disability', 'Dyslexia', 'Dysarthria', 'Dyscalculia', and the like, which are actually the diagnoses themselves, and some other fancy titles like 'Slow Learner', 'Late Bloomer', etc. 

Coming to the physical disability part, 'Handicapped' was the most common usage at one time which then went through a very happening metamorphosis. 'Physically Disabled' was the first one in the series, if I remember right. I saw that change into 'People with Special Needs' (hmmm, a bit fancy and misleading), followed by 'Differently Abled' and finally into (this one makes me cringe...) 'People with Determination'!!! 

Seriously??! 

By the way, 'People with Determination' is only seen in UAE, I guess. Haven't seen or heard that being used anywhere else, yet! I'll come back to this newbie in a bit, because were not done with the 'Differently Abled'.

Look at it from any angle you may. Do you see what I see? As far as abilities are concerned, aren't we all differently abled from each other? In the literal sense, my abilities are not your abilities, and your abilities are different from your neighbour's abilities, and so on. This is why I say we are all differently abled from each other.

'People with Special Needs' is also contradictory. I have had friends who wore glasses from a very young age. Take their glasses off and they can't read. Would that not be called a 'special need'? I am very poor at math; so poor that I need a calculator for anything that requires adding numbers beyond the scope of my ten fingers. I consider that a 'special' need as well. Why are people who wear eyeglasses, people who use calculators, and many more, not given the considerations the other population is given?......because they are not 'disabled'!! You get my point?

Here's what Manjula Aryadurai, my friend and parent of a 'Special' child herself has to say. 

"‘Special’ (in 'Special Schools') pretends as though there is something fantastic or super about the school, but doesn’t describe it. It makes people and children with disabilities feel like they are different and cannot mix with others. It separates them from the society that they want to be a part of. For example, if someone cannot walk and uses a wheelchair, that person is disabled by a set of stairs, disabled by a high curb at the road, disabled by a drain with no cover, disabled by a high table in a restaurant. So the more we use the word ‘disabled’ the more we will remember to fix things around them with a ramp, with a dropped curb, safe drain covers etc."

She goes on to tickle her funny bone and give us another example.

"Another way I can explain it is, for example, if I need to take my son to an event or a new place I call them and straight away say, “I’m bringing my son who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.” Immediately I can get a response like “okay Ma’am, an usher will meet you at the entrance and show you where the lift/ramp is.” If I said “I’m bringing my son who is special.” The response might be “okay we will make sure there is a red carpet and flowers at the front stairs.” 

Also if you say “I’m bringing my new boyfriend who is autistic to your party.” The party host will ask “okay, should I provide a quiet room, or make the volume low. Will blinking lights be an issue?” And so on. If you say “I’m bringing my new boyfriend who is special, to your party.” The host might say “Aww! How sweet. Will we be hearing wedding bells soon?”

Well, you see what I mean, don't you?

I don't even want to talk about 'People with Determination'. What about you and me, and everybody else who is not sitting on a wheelchair. Are we not determined in any way? Do we not have any molecule of determination in us?

The point here is, why all these colorful descriptions and fancy titles when actually not much has changed on ground level? Euphemisms never got anyone anywhere!!

People with disabilities are still struggling to get on to cars, buses and trains. Children with physical disabilities and childhood developmental disorders have a hard time getting into most mainstream schools for want of 'Special' educators and an inclusion classroom. Forget everything else, where is the acceptance?! No daycare facility wants to take care of a child with 'special needs' along with other children, as they need 'extra care'. It has always been a hard life and that's not going to change very soon, it looks like. 

I agree that rules are slowly being put into place and things are changing. Lots of technological advances are now out there to make lives of people with disabilities, easier. However, is this accessible to all? Has the mindset of the common man changed much? Don't we see people with disabilities being stared at, pitied upon, or even looked down upon? I agree that we've started out, we're on our way, but we're not there yet.

I know it sounds like its easy for me to stand on the other side of the fence and give my opinions, but no. I know many people with disabilities who are strongly against these kind of usages. "It doesn't make any difference to our lives, we still have to struggle for whatever we want. The last thing we want is a sound-good label", says one very industrious, wheelchair-bound young research scholar I know.

What I am expressing here is purely my view, and I don't intend to impose my views on my readers or hurt anybody's feelings or belittle anyone (if you feel I did).

My take....We should be removing roadblocks, not painting rainbows over them!