3 ms·

> Have we as a society come to define disabilities so broadly that the term has basically become meaningless? We’re getting close, but it’s okay. Expansion of

> Have we as a society come to define disabilities so broadly that the term has basically become meaningless? We’re getting close, but it’s okay. Expansion of the term has helped people and we’ll eventually come up with new common language to distinguish more and less catastrophic forms of disability.

munk-a 3y ago
I disagree - I think as a culture we're coming closer to realizing that everyone needs help sometime and that we should have social programs available to help with that. Some people need more access to those programs than other people and some people have specific needs that others don't - we should just help people in their time of need, make things more accessible, and remove the social shaming associated with it
- swatcoder 3y ago
  Sure, except you’re not disagreeing. :) If disability now means needing help, and help is something that everybody needs sometime, then disability really refers to everybody at some time. And inasmuch as everybody should have the help they need, and statute already says that disabled people can get help, it works out well in practice. Everybody can claim that they’re disabled when they’re disabled and get the help they need. Sounds great! But disabled used to mean something much more narrow and uncommon, and there’s still going to be need to find new language for that.
  - munk-a 3y ago
    That is extremely difficult to provide a blanket term for - we're talking about such a wide spectrum of issues when we use the 90's definition of disabled. That would include people who are perfectly neurotypical but require physical assistance (i.e. someone with arthritis who needs ramps to change elevation at a reasonable speed), people who are neurodivergent but perfectly physically able and everyone inbetween. A lot of those folks just went unserved in the old system and struggled financially to keep themselves alive and fed while walking a much harder road than the rest of us. I think a blanket term for disability isn't useful and it's much more productive to focus on forms of impairment - there's no real similarity in treatment and support between a person who was hit by a car and needs a wheelchair and someone otherwise normal looking who is prone to sudden violent outbursts due to a neurological disorder. And, unfortunately, one of those people is much more likely to be looked on with sympathy and the other shamed and feared - but both of them can live normal lives with proper care.

munk-a 3y ago

I disagree - I think as a culture we're coming closer to realizing that everyone needs help sometime and that we should have social programs available to help with that. Some people need more access to those programs than other people and some people have specific needs that others don't - we should just help people in their time of need, make things more accessible, and remove the social shaming associated with it

swatcoder 3y ago
Sure, except you’re not disagreeing. :) If disability now means needing help, and help is something that everybody needs sometime, then disability really refers to everybody at some time. And inasmuch as everybody should have the help they need, and statute already says that disabled people can get help, it works out well in practice. Everybody can claim that they’re disabled when they’re disabled and get the help they need. Sounds great! But disabled used to mean something much more narrow and uncommon, and there’s still going to be need to find new language for that.
- munk-a 3y ago
  That is extremely difficult to provide a blanket term for - we're talking about such a wide spectrum of issues when we use the 90's definition of disabled. That would include people who are perfectly neurotypical but require physical assistance (i.e. someone with arthritis who needs ramps to change elevation at a reasonable speed), people who are neurodivergent but perfectly physically able and everyone inbetween. A lot of those folks just went unserved in the old system and struggled financially to keep themselves alive and fed while walking a much harder road than the rest of us. I think a blanket term for disability isn't useful and it's much more productive to focus on forms of impairment - there's no real similarity in treatment and support between a person who was hit by a car and needs a wheelchair and someone otherwise normal looking who is prone to sudden violent outbursts due to a neurological disorder. And, unfortunately, one of those people is much more likely to be looked on with sympathy and the other shamed and feared - but both of them can live normal lives with proper care.