I don't like the term "special needs".

[lightningandsnow]

I don't know, it just sounds condescending to me. And silly - I mean, doesn't everyone have needs that may or may not be "special".

I have a learning disability, and personally, I'd much prefer the term "person with a disability" than "special needs person/child". The latter just sounds a little condescending. And what's so wrong with having a disability? Why are we so afraid to say it?

Also, people with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities are people unto themselves, with independent thoughts, feelings, and lives. Not just somebody's children.

(This has little to do with anything, by the way. The discussion of disability issues just got me thinking.)

[NightWatcher]

1. someone asked my friend what he preferred to be called and his reply was "John, dumbass"

[lightningandsnow]

2. I like the way he thinks.

:rofl:

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. And my response to that would have been...

"Nice to meet you, John Dumbass. My name is Gregg." :hi:

[NightWatcher]

5. whoa, were you there?

he is so hillarious. The local town had fund raisers to give his family money so they could travel to his bedside at the specialty hospital. After he got better he said he felt bad because he was afraid that they'd want their money back because he didnt kick the bucket.

He also says that people make fun only because they dont get the primo parking spaces

[TechBear_Seattle]

7. No offense meant; that's my usual response to rudeness

While your friend no doubt gets tired of the question, I would be surprised if it was asked in a rude way or with the intent of being offensive.

[NightWatcher]

8. no offense taken. he prefers to be called by his name that a weak label

and he's a HUGE smartass too

[rucky]

4. I think the terms of preference depend on personal taste

I've heard arguments for using "differently abled" instead of "disabled"

I just don't think there's a consensus on this.

[Lost in CT]

11. Differently abled is a lie... I'm blind in one eye tht is diffrent.. it isn't

a fucking ability...

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. I believe the reasoning is the semantics

"Ability" means having competence or skill. The prefix "dis-" carries a sense of "opposite," "excluded" or "lacking." Thus "disability" and "disabled" are seen as meaning -- and often are used to mean -- "lacking ability," "without skills" or "the opposite of competence."

Sure, "special needs" sounds condescending, but it doesn't carry an inherent dismissal of ability. I have mild dyslexia and my step-father has serious mobility issues; when a label is needed, we both use "differently abled" to show that we are not "averagely abled." I think that carries less of the value judgement found in both "disabled" and "special needs."

[JuniperLea]

9. That's an interesting take...

Signage was changed yesterday in the building where I work, and in addition to the symbol of a person in a wheelchair, the words "disabled access" were included. Seems this caused an uproar among employees in wheelchairs; they didn't want to be referred to as "disabled." They all feel very abled. They felt it should be called what it is: Wheelchair Access. There are a lot of very able people in wheelchairs, on crutches, using prosthetic limbs, using canes, etc. It doesn't automatically make them disabled, which would mean they are unable to do things. They can't use the escalator... I hate that thing anyway and avoid it at all cost.

[Terran]

15. I learned recently that a lot of deaf people feel that way

especially those who are deaf from birth. Many of them feel that ASL is a superior form of communication to speech anyway, and they certainly don't feel disabled by a lack of hearing. Some are quite militant about it.

[trudyco]

10. I agree with you. My child has learning differences. But not everybody

uses the same term everywhere. "Special needs" I thought came from public school. Teachers use it sometimes. So I interchange sometimes.

I don't like the term "Gifted and Talented" either. I have a kid who is advanced in academics. She is no more gifted or talented than her sibling. Just different. Needs more challenges in school. Some kids are both "Gifted" and "Special Needs" otherwise known as "twice exceptional". I don't think they are exceptional. Just different.

But you have to have some sort of language to communicate.

[JuniperLea]

12. Both learning differences you mention require special attention

Everyone learns differently, and education is generally pointed at the mean average. Someone outside the mean, in either direction, can easily be lost in the system and can be labeled something that they are not... literally and figuratively.

[BurtWorm]

13. It's going to take some time to find the right language about disabilities.

The word we have now to discuss that whole field of thought and action has a negative built into it, right up front. There are two thoughts among people with disabilities: on the one hand, they want to be seen as people first and foremost--they want the disability to fade into the background, not just for them, but for everyone. On the other hand, society's discomfort with disability has meant that people with disabilities have traditionally been pushed toward invisibility. People with disabilities want to feel proud of what society has, up to now, made them feel ashamed of.

Society clearly needs years and years of pychotherapy or intensive analysis to figure out why it's so fucked up and juvenile about variations from the norm. A change of a word is not going to substitute for that. It's just a little step toward it. "Special" will not be the last word. We can only hope that some day we actually find the right one.

[terisan]

14. Yes sometimes the terms that seemed progressive when first used are not so useful

latter. Things evolve. Maybe it is time to brainstorm new word usage.

I think Senior Citizen may have outlived its usefulness.

[serrano2008]

16. I just like how there are so many different terms and there are people who don't like all of them.

"Special Needs" "Mentally Challenged" "Retarded" "Mentally Disabled" "Mentally Handicapped"

Is this not the perfect topic to point out that you just can't please everybody, so some people (everyone else) are gonna have to get over it?