Do you prefer the term "disabilities" or "special needs?"?

Question

Do you prefer the term "disabilities" or "special needs?"?

Answer 1

most people like to be called by their names, why label anyone?

Answer 2

I'm 'totally disabled' due to bad heart disease and rheumatiod arthritis. I don't like ANY LABEL that puts someone like you, who has ADD and 'learning problems' with someone like me, who is 'crippled' and has a bad ticker. I prefer just saying 'I have heart disease and arthritis' and think that maybe you are 'happier' just saying that you have ADD and learning problems. You can 'solve' problems, but you can't 'solve' a 'disability.' I can live perfectly well with both the heart disease and arthritis (because I have a really good doctor) ... but I think that both of us could 'picket' until we were 'blue in the face' and nobody would 'care' what we think ... because we are 'disabled' and evidently that means we are 'stupid' and can't make up our own minds about 'what to call ourselves.'

Answer 3

How about people, like you and me, hows that?!?!?!?

Answer 4

I do not like either of these terms. I am a firm believer of the Social Model of Disability. The social model says that we are disabled by socially constructed barriers therefore, I am a disabled person but I do not have a disability. The preferred term is non disabled as this implies that the person concerned does not have to encounter socially constructed barriers. It all sounds very political but I do believe that we have not developed a suitable alternative to the social model.

Answer 5

good question,disabilities

Answer 6

Differentlyabled



We all have a disability of some sort and we all have to adapt to our environment in someway. I have lots of friends and some family members with "disabilities" but I never directly point it out. If their "disability" becomes relevant I'll say something like "He uses a wheelchair" as opposed to "He can't walk".

Answer 7

I'm in a wheelchair due to severe arthritis, and frankly I hate PC talk. So I just flat out call myself a cripple. I am crippled, and if people are uncomfortable with the term, so be it.



I'm not disabled, I am quite able to do MANY things - except use my legs worth a hoot.



I'm not "special needs", no more than any other human being. All people have special needs. Some show, some don't.



I'm not "handicapped" my being crippled has nothing to do with my hands or what I wear on my head. ;)



I am certainly not "mobility impaired", as I get around just fine in my wheelchair, or even on my legs within my own home.



Besides, when I use the word "cripple" in public, like when my husband and I are bantering and I say something like: "Oh, good, just go ahead and push the cripple out into traffic, why doncha?" the looks on other people's faces are just PRICELESS. It's worth giving them a dose of what my friend Eonen calls "white hot WTF-ery".

Answer 8

If you are an adult in the workplace, there is little need to discuss the learning disability. You simply make sure you have the accommodations necessary to fulfill your job responsibilities. Labels are useful in the educational system because when a person qualifies for this label they are legally provided with accommodations in the classroom to allow them to demonstrate their understanding of the subject.

Answer 9

Why do you people want to put labels on people. Just call them by their regular names.

Answer 10

sometimes like with me both terms apply because I do have trouble holding down jobs because of it due to the fact that sometimes I hear something that wasn't even said and because of it I do have special needs in order to find a job.

Answer 11

The words "special needs" in itself is not wrong. I agree with you however, that it does sound "too PC and sugar coated". But it really depends on the context to which the words is being applied to. Many people do use it but in some circles it is becoming less common.



Personally, if I were to describe you to someone else - I would just say "She has ADD and needs extra support" rather than "she has special needs". The words "special needs" implies you are dependent - as you said.



BUT.. I would not EVER consider you to have a "disability".

"Learning difficulty" or learning deficit" perhaps, but NOT a disability.



Language is a powerful thing and the words we use can convey different messages and ideas. Use the right words and it dignifies the person and raise the status of their value in society.



I have an excellent document about this very subject but I can not find the link to it at the moment. But the one below is quite a reasonable one for resources in use of appropriate language when dealing with disability. http://www.equity.uts.edu.au/policy/language/ablist.html



EDIT: FOUND IT!!! here is the link. It is a PDF file and you can print it out as a booklet form.

http://www.addc.org.au/webdocs/Disability%20Advocacy/Manuals/DHS_GUIDE_Communicating%20with%20people%20with%20disabilities_2005.pdf



and another one..

http://www.disability.qld.gov.au/community_involv/communication/way_words/language.html