Something that confuses me...

[exor674]

I apologize if this offends anyone, it is not meant that way, I promise...

Why is there an expectation to avoid subjects that might bring up somebodies disability?

If someone has chronic pain, why is it expected to avoid slang like "it won't hurt to..."
If someone can't walk, why is it expected to avoid subjects like "I took a long walk in the rain today"
If someone is deaf, why is it expected to not talk about the new music artist you found or the concert you went to last night?

If somebody has a disability, why is it expected to treat them differently in the way you would converse with them? (by converse I mean communicate in a way the person in question can parse and understand)
Why is it expected to treat them differently? (yaknow, except accommodations like not requesting somebody in a wheelchair to grab a box off the top shelf -- that kinda "treat differently" makes sense)

It seems to *me* that this kinda a form of discrimination against people with "disabilities"... Treating them differently just because they have X. I get if the specific person asks you to avoid the subject... I just don't get it as an up-front expectation.

Comments

[exor674]

Throw out the never ask questions rule. That's a crap rule. However, you may want to learn to ask, "May I ask you something about your disability?" The key thing I've seen in disability communities is that people don't want to feel like they are obligated to explain. The explanation may be long and complex, and they may not feel up to going through it again. However, most people with disabilities are okay explaining things most of the time. If you're willing to see if they feel up to a question, and also willing to accept, "Actually, that's really complicated." or "I don't want to go into that" then generally asking is the best course if the issue is coming up. Just don't act as if you're entitled to an answer and you should usually be okay.

Yeah, as I've said I've never really followed it -- I do generally only ask friends and the like -- but was just commenting that it seems to be an expectation -- heh, I think the "how to be politically correct" things I was taught with growing up were kinda messed up.

The problem with "spaz" is that it does refer to a medical condition and those who have that condition usually hear it as an insult. ~They~ know what it means. The problem with "lame" is that the root is to deliberately imply that this thing is worthless or bad just like someone who can't walk very well. The history of how people with disabilities have been treated is really, really bad. It wasn't that long ago that lots of them were forcibly sterilized and/or systematically murdered. To this day people with disabilities get all sorts of bizarre and often condescending treatment that implies they are not a full human being. With such an environment, it's easy for those implications to be read into things. So even though you personally mean well, it won't necessarily come across.

Okay, that makes sense.
I just wish that it would be pointed out to me politely if and when I hit something offensive to someone -- instead of getting yelled at, but that's a possibly unfair expectation from other people.

And I do think you can say things like, "I see what you mean" or "It won't hurt for me to do this", but I do think telling someone else doing something won't hurt them is likely best only if you have good reason to believe you are right. But it's also part of the general category that one should be careful telling other people how they work.

*nods*

But in general, I don't think you need to be too careful about avoiding things. The rubbing someone's face in it isn't likely to come up much. It'd be more like saying things like, "Jogging is great exercise and everyone should do it." to someone who can't walk. They're probably going to get annoyed at the second half since it excludes them from being part of "everyone" (Oh sorry, by "everyone" I just meant normal people, you know, the people who actually count) or it states that they should be jogging and tsk tsk that they no longer can do what they ought to do.

Yeah, I get how that could be bad and mean...

Thank you.