Saturday, September 01, 2018
Labels
I was recently asked if I would be interested in 'updating' my SNAP Curriculum to use the more politically correct terms being tossed around now.
I politely declined.
Political correctness drives me crazy. I view it as a person's way of saying, "I can't deal with my own emotions, so I need you to change your behavior so I don't have to." In the past I have been taken to task for referring to the people in my program as "clients" and also for referring to them as "consumers." You just can't win for losing. I use 'client' because that's what the folks in our program voted to call themselves. They thought 'consumer' was a silly label.
This latest one was because I still use the term "developmental disability" instead of "intellectual disability".
Let me throw this one out there... I believe that being offended by any word or words is a personal choice. I never saw it as my job to teach anyone to choose to be offended by anything. I did see it as my job to teach clients how to deal with their emotions if they had already been taught to be offended by something.
I have said before and I say again that I believe there is someone out there whose sole job is to think up new labels so that we don't have to use labels. I guess its a living.
I have always preferred to spend my time supporting our clients by teaching them daily living skills that are useful to enhancing their lives. I really don't have time for non-disabled people who act like they are doing so much good by coming up with new labels.
Do I understand that words can hurt? Absolutely. My feelings get hurt from time to time... until I stop and think about why my feeling are hurt. Why am I giving the other person power over me like that? Do I support people using the "R" word or other abbreviated slurs? Here, let me offend you. You're an idiot if you think that. Of course not. But mental retardation is a medical diagnosis and it's just silly to be offended by that usage. And yes, I'm calling you "silly".
Are you choosing to be offended by that? Why? How does it improve your life to be emotionally offended? I absolutely agree that people who have to resort to using what we consider slurs in an attempt to build themselves up have a real problem. But it's their problem, not mine.
So, no, I won't 'update' my material just to make some non-disabled folks feel better about themselves.
But thanks for asking.
I politely declined.
Political correctness drives me crazy. I view it as a person's way of saying, "I can't deal with my own emotions, so I need you to change your behavior so I don't have to." In the past I have been taken to task for referring to the people in my program as "clients" and also for referring to them as "consumers." You just can't win for losing. I use 'client' because that's what the folks in our program voted to call themselves. They thought 'consumer' was a silly label.
This latest one was because I still use the term "developmental disability" instead of "intellectual disability".
Let me throw this one out there... I believe that being offended by any word or words is a personal choice. I never saw it as my job to teach anyone to choose to be offended by anything. I did see it as my job to teach clients how to deal with their emotions if they had already been taught to be offended by something.
I have said before and I say again that I believe there is someone out there whose sole job is to think up new labels so that we don't have to use labels. I guess its a living.
I have always preferred to spend my time supporting our clients by teaching them daily living skills that are useful to enhancing their lives. I really don't have time for non-disabled people who act like they are doing so much good by coming up with new labels.
Do I understand that words can hurt? Absolutely. My feelings get hurt from time to time... until I stop and think about why my feeling are hurt. Why am I giving the other person power over me like that? Do I support people using the "R" word or other abbreviated slurs? Here, let me offend you. You're an idiot if you think that. Of course not. But mental retardation is a medical diagnosis and it's just silly to be offended by that usage. And yes, I'm calling you "silly".
Are you choosing to be offended by that? Why? How does it improve your life to be emotionally offended? I absolutely agree that people who have to resort to using what we consider slurs in an attempt to build themselves up have a real problem. But it's their problem, not mine.
So, no, I won't 'update' my material just to make some non-disabled folks feel better about themselves.
But thanks for asking.
