Finish the sentence, part 2!

Tori_Scope

No two disabled people are the same, and everyone experiences disability differently.

Some of you may remember that I previously asked you what 'disabled' doesn't mean.

I'm now interested in knowing what 'disabled' does mean to you

SueHeath

........ I'm not as active as I wont to be x

Hannah_Alumni

This is great @Tori_Scope.

I feel, quite simply, Disabled means me  

janer1967

Disabled means changing and adapting to new ways of doing things to enable the best life you can focus on what you can do not what you can't 

Sandy_123

Disabled means a very limited lifestyle 

mack8888

To me it means that somebody has put me in a box, and I hate boxes. 

Can I be super cynical and ask who may have coined the term, if anybody knows? I feel as though Googling everything I don’t know isn’t really that healthy. I miss having to wait for the library to open, and I’m not that old. 

easy

Life can be challenging at times.

Cher_Alumni

@mack8888 Here's a link to the Etymology website which looks at the history of the word disabled. As you can see, it's origins are steeped in talk of deficit and lack compared to the 'non-disabled' body and more recent movements are reclaiming the word, spinning it and declaring - we aren't 'dis'' anything.

For me being disabled means...
I have more knowledge about poo than the average person 

Poppy_

I am unique in the way I do certain things.

chiarieds

Differently able

mack8888

@Cher_Scope Thank you so much for the link. So, “render unable, weaken or destroy the capability of” I still think is pretty much how most people ‘see’ the word and to apply the ‘de’ more than they would probably like to. Another example of institutional inbreeding that needs a jolly good looking at.   
As for the groups not wanting to associate with ‘dis’ anything….thoughts?

Today, disabled for me means new discoveries, such as realising disabled means different things for me every day. 


 

Cher_Alumni

@mack8888 I agree! I think there is merit in destabilising what language means when it's historically been used to oppress people or silo them into groups subject to prejudice. After all, we're all human and having a condition or impairment is still part of the human condition - it doesn't mean you should be treated any differently.

I like your positive take on what being disabled means too 

asmia

Being disabled is very challenging at all times. Always being criticise, being looked at in a different way

Irishmeg

Hello. I'm learning that I sometimes have to make more effort, but my "disability is my new ability  and patience to encourage others in a similar boat.

Irishmeg

I'm really pleased to find this forum.

sarahbadr

It means doing things differently. I can't do everything, but I can find a way of doing most of the things I want and some of the things I can't do I probably wouldn't be doing even if I could (e.g. jogging!).

sarahbadr

@mack8888 The word disabled used to really bother me, as I felt it that being described as disabled indicated I was defective in some way. I particularly disliked it when other people described me as disabled (e.g. "...the disabled lady over there" - actually I still hate that). I used to feel pleased when I passed for able-bodied (when someone mistakenly thought I was using crutches because I had broken my ankle or something), which is slightly ridiculous. I think I do prefer to "have" a disability as opposed to "being" disabled. 

mack8888

@sarahbadr Hi there. I believe there will always be a distinct correlation between disabled or disability and the way people ‘see’ us as inferior in some way.  What @Cher_Scope got me thinking about was that the use of language, plus history equals where we’re at right now, and although things are changing, they’re changing in a painfully slow way. 

We are identified by how we look and by how we act/sound by the majority, not how we feel or by our personality or character. 

For me right now It’s an occasionally offensive and derogatory shortcut to distinguish one person from another that I’ve very reluctantly accept - maybe. 

As we predominately communicate with our bodies, we will always talk with a peculiar ‘accent’ in the company of strangers. 

I think we call ourselves whatever we want to, to get by sometimes, or as a necessity to be taken seriously or recognised. 

Ultimately, we all rock just by being here and living with a ‘disability’ or being ‘disabled’ isn’t for the weak, that’s for sure.

J2R2J

A disability is like one of the links in the various chains of life being weaker than it should be or broken, impairing that chain and having to adapt to work around this limitation by directing strengths to work in parallel to bypass this impaired link. Staying strong in most chains is possible, but for chains where such links cannot be bypassed there will always be another chain which can be stronger to compensate for this.

To every impairment, there is a strength somewhere in parallel which isn’t always obvious but needs to be identified to maximise the use of potential within. Either work around the link or via another chain. A disability is not alone, there is a solution to it somewhere.

Tori_Scope

I don't think that's ridiculous at all @sarahbadr Everyone experiences disability differently, and likes to use different terminology. And that's fine!

At Scope, we say 'disabled people' rather than 'people with a disability', as we use the social model of disability to guide our work. One of the core principles of the social model is that people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference. This means that people don't have disabilities as such, they have conditions. It's barriers in society, like physical obstacles or cultural attitudes, that disable people. Does that makes sense?

WholeSumMum

Not being able to do what I need or want to do when I need or want to do it, especially things which help me to cope better. Having to change my daily routines to meet those of my young adults (both with similar need) each time their college / work life changes. Being made to feel like a fraud or a scrounger as a carer who has their own needs. My needs mostly come last after family needs. As well as struggling to reduce living costs and explain why to very highly autistic & other SEN family members.