Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I am going to be voicing my opinion on 'is disabled a bad word?'. I'm not going to spend too much time on this introduction as there is no point.
Let's get into my thoughts!
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| King, Alexandria. Musings of an Arthritic Artist. 2021. |
Many people believe that 'disabled' is a dirty, negative word. It isn't. But the question is, why do people think that? The thought that 'disabled' and 'disability' are 'bad' words doesn't make sense to me. I've been randomly thinking about this, and I may have come to a conclusion on why it's seen as a bad word.
First, let's breakdown and examine the word 'disabled.' 'Dis' is a prefix meaning 'not.' So, when 'disabled' is broken down, it translates to 'not able.' I mentioned this in my post where I discussed the different terms non-disabled people will use to refer to disabled people.
Like I said there, the words 'not able' are vague. They don't give any clue as to why someone is disabled. It's an inclusive term. What does that mean, not able? Not able to do what exactly? Not able to hear? That's a deaf person. Not able to see? That's a blind person. Not able to walk? That's a wheelchair user of some kind, ambulatory or otherwise.
So why do people think disabled is a bad word? Here's my theory.
It isn't until you see the antonym of disabled that it becomes problematic. What is the antonym? Able-bodied. With this connotation, it can be understood why many people believe disabled to be a bad word. This word implies that disabled people don't have 'able-bodies.' That they don't have capable bodies--that their bodies are inherently flawed and, perhaps, even unusable. This just isn't true.
Disability and being disabled is just a reality for some people. There are some things we can do, but there are other things we can't. That's not me being pessimistic. That's just fact. I can't open cans with pull tabs. That's not me being negative or me 'not trying hard enough.' That's just my reality.
So, do I believe that 'disabled' is a bad word? No. Not at all. It's a reality I have lived for the past twelve years, and it's a word that best describes some aspects of my life. Substitute words like 'differently-abled' and 'handicapable' don't describe my life, solely because they don't describe how difficult my life has been or how many struggles I've gone though, despite me having a happy life.
Those words are patronizing. They were created by non-disabled people to describe disabled people. They were created to replace the 'offensive' disabled. Stating that disabled is a bad and negative word is offensive to me. It conveys that there's something wrong with being disabled--that there is something wrong with my life. There isn't. I love my life, disabled aspects and all.
Disabled is not a dirty word, and the sooner people realize that, the better off we'll be.
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