ABLEISM:
Understanding the Concept of Ableist Languange
WHAT IS ABLEISM?
Ableism is the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.
To simplify, ableism commonly found as assumption that disabled people require “fixing” and introduce or namely people by their disabilities. They classified people as 'less than' and includes harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations of people with disabilities. The word does a lot of work for disability culture. It carries the weight of the worst of what plagues disabled people the most, but can be so hard to express.
COMPONENTS OF ABLEISM
There are two types of ableism that is commonly happening in our society.
1. PERSONAL ABLEISM.
The feeling of instinctively uncomfortable around disabled people, or anyone who seems “strange” in ways that might be connected to a disability of some kind.
2. Holding stereotypical views about disabled people in general, or about certain sub-groups of disabled
people.
WHY IS IT HARMFUL?
Ableism is still a new light to everyone, but the main aspect of the said topic focuses on the discrimination and the social prejudice against people with disabilities. But, it doesn't firmly revolve on discrimination - this can also lead to detrimental stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalization of the marginalized group.
Examples for these is that society sets low standards and expectation for the disabled people. Some feel objectified, for able-bodied people only views them for their own inspiration.
WHAT IS ABLEIST LANGUAGE?
Ableist language is language that is offensive to people with disability. It can also refer to language that is derogatory, abusive or negative about disability. Ableism is the systemic exclusion and oppression of people with disability, often expressed and reinforced through language.
Many derogatory words for people with disability – like ‘retard’, ‘moron’ and ‘idiot’ – began as medical definitions used to categorise people with disability as lesser humans. These terms, once prominent in medical textbooks and used in scientific journals, were used a time of widespread eugenics of people with disability, such as forced sterilisation and institutionalisation. A term’s clinical origins do not mean it is OK to use. These terms are strong slurs against people with disability, are very offensive and should never be used.
ALTERNATIVES
This table gives you the list of ableist language, provided with the alternatives that you can to substitute the words or phrases.
| WORD / PHRASE | ALTERNATIVE |
|---|---|
| __ is so Bipolar | erratic, all over the place, unreasonable, back and forth, unstable |
| Lame | bad, uncool, cheesy, tacky, corny |
| I'm so OCD | meticulous, neat, picky |
| Spaz / Retarded | silly, dorky, cheesy, illogical |
| Stupid / Retarded | frustrating, pointless, annoying, perplexing, irritating, obnoxious, confusing, silly |
| __ is making me depressed | upset, sad, blue, dissappointed |
| Crazy / Insane / Mental (meaning Intense) | intense, wild, awesome, amazing, fascinating, extremely |
| Crazy / Insane / Mental (meaning Absurd) | unreasonable, absurd, outrageous, unacceptable, ridiculous, unreal, unbelievable |
| Psycho / Sociopath / Psychotic | dangerous, menacing, threatening, strange |
| Wheelchair-bound / Confined to a Wheelchair | person who uses wheelchair, has [specific condition here] |
| Burn Victim | burn survivor |
| Daft / Crazy / Loony | outrageous, silly, absurd, unpredicted |
| Deformed / Deformity | shortened/amputated limb, curved spine, (be as specific to someone’s actual medical condition as possible, or simply don’t discuss someone’s physical appearance) |
| Deranged | disturbed |
| Diffability / Differently Abled / Handicap / Handicapped | person with disability, has [specific condition here] |
| Maniac / Crazy / Lunatic / Madman / Wacko | person with psychosocial disability, person with a mental health condition |
| Harelip / cleftlip / birth defect | congenital disability |
| Madhouse | scene of extreme confusion / uproar |
| Midget | person of short stature |
| Obese | has [specific condition here], (Be as specific as possible to someone’s actual medical condition as possible, or simply don’t discuss someone’s physical appearance.) |