A friend of mine told me that using the terms "blind" and "deaf" is offensive. She said that I should say, "visually impaired" and "hearing impaired
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Uhhhh from what I understand, the socially acceptable terms are "deaf" and "hard of hearing," and absolutely NOT hearing impaired.
I'm hard of hearing and use that term. If my hearing loss progresses to the point that I can't hear anything, I'll use the word deaf, but not hearing impaired. I actually correct people when they say hearing impaired, especially since it sounds like there's a major handicap there. Most deaf people I know don't see it as a major handicap and get along just fine.
Where is your friend claiming to get that information? I can't speak for the blind community, but I know that the deaf/HoH community typically avoids the term "hearing impaired".
I wouldn't say 'deaf' unless I could hear almost nothing, either. Likewise I won't be 'blind' until I can see almost nothing. Just now I call myself 'visually impaired' or, more often, I say 'My eyes aren't so good,' and then explain whatever is specifically relevant.
But more generally I find that I don't get bothered about the words people use. What matters is what people do, or don't do, to help when I need help. That's a lot of why I called this comm friendly_crips. Yep, I'm a crip! In fact I'm a queercrip. Now please may I have that chair to sit down on?
Is your friend blind or Deaf? If not, then she is not a good source of what a group she is not part of like to be called. Look up blogs written by people with the condition, most of them will say the term they prefer.
No, she is not. She has disabilities but not blindness or deafness. She says that I should use person-first language because it is more respectful, but didn't say where she got that information from.
I myself prefer to be called autistic rather than "a person with autism."
It depends on the disability, difference or condition. A lot of Deaf or Blind people do not consider themselves disabled simply different.
I have hearing loss and consider it a disability myself. I prefer hard of hearing though it doesn't really describe my disability, which is a range loss.
Generally I think it's best to go with what people with it say, not what someone without it says.
In 2000 I was a carer and housekeeper to a (partically) blind and deaf old gent. The social worker tried unsuccefully to communicate with him by not being in his eyeline and mumbling. So I tried to help her by reminded her that as he was blind and deaf she should get into his eyeline and speak up. She told me that I was using offensive language and ask Jack if he objected to the use of blind and deaf, and he replied "Yes." There was a nanana momement from her to me.
So I asked Jack if he really did object to being called blind and deaf, (as I couldn't believe a plain speaking Yorkshire man would.) He was amused at what I was telling him because he was doing his usual thing of guessing what she was saying and if in doubt agree, to get them the hell out of his home.
Occasionally I get asked whether I'm 'permanently in a wheelchair' or whether I 'can walk really.' I suppose that's a little bit like the way you can't see much without your specs. I tend to take it as an opportunity to discuss what my disability's really like and to listen to how people really feel about it.
When I applied for disability, I was told I qualified for an additional $15 a month allowance for "special diet" due to diabetes. However, I had to reapply for that allowance every six months "In case you get better."
I told the case worker, "I've had diabetes for 30 years. It's not going to away."
"But it could better," she said.
"No, it will not get better. No matter what, I will still need a special diet for the rest of my life, or until they find a cure."
"But you could get better." Apparently that is what her handbook said, and she was sticking to it.
If I ever run into someone i haven't seen in a long time, they often ask me if I "still" have diabetes.
This reminds me of the way disability benefits here in Britain are to become time-limited. If the Govt manages to force that change through the House of Lords. It's such a waste of resources to force people to jump through this daft hoop.
Politically Correct speech came about in the early 80's or so I remember. It was about not offending people by making unfounded assumptions. eg. Assuming a Doctor is male and a nurse is female. Since then we have had euphemisms instead of ordinary and quite effient words. And these new expressions have changed every few years, leaving those who have been re-educated in the old New Speak labelled as some kind of dinosaur reactionary.
Your friend would have been correct in her assumptions that "visually impaired" and "hearing impaired." was the standard at least up until the 90's. I have no idea what the New Speek is now. Not being in social services, we the public don't get the memo's. As many older people hate euphemisms of any type, it would be far better to ask them how they would discribe themselves, write it down and remember to use *that* when speaking to them.
Do you remember when political correctness was a term of approval? In the 80s iirc we young idealists used to say that certain actions, places or things were 'ideologically sound,' 'polically correct,' or 'right on.' I'm not at all comfortable with the way 'political correctness' is now assumed to be devil's spawn. That it has 'gone mad.' So I avoid using that phrase.
I still use the term PC because it originally had every good intention, that of not offending particular groups of people, who feel they have been made outsiders. And you have only got to watch old cop shows to show how far we have come from the aweful insults, and that is down to PC. However constantly changing the goal posts and a few over enthusiastic but slightly dim (non pc I know) have spoilt the whole thing and given it a bad name.
I went off on one only a few days ago when a FB friend described bad behaviour by certain people as *uneducated* rather than stupid. I have no idea if it is the current news speak for stupid. I was offended by it because I left schooling at the age of 15. There is a difference between being uneducated and unintelligent. Some people will baulk at my use of *stupid* but when I use it I'm talking people who have the intelligence but refuse to use it, *not* people who have a learning disability.
Personally the over enthusiastic but slightly unaware ones don't really bother me. I think the ones who pull the "do as I say but not as I do" or what I call exceptionalism, ie it's okay for someone they like to say something explicitly and obviously horrid but anyone else is jumped all over if they even think the person could have possibly if you squint said something offensive cause more problems.
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I'm hard of hearing and use that term. If my hearing loss progresses to the point that I can't hear anything, I'll use the word deaf, but not hearing impaired. I actually correct people when they say hearing impaired, especially since it sounds like there's a major handicap there. Most deaf people I know don't see it as a major handicap and get along just fine.
Where is your friend claiming to get that information? I can't speak for the blind community, but I know that the deaf/HoH community typically avoids the term "hearing impaired".
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But more generally I find that I don't get bothered about the words people use. What matters is what people do, or don't do, to help when I need help. That's a lot of why I called this comm friendly_crips. Yep, I'm a crip! In fact I'm a queercrip. Now please may I have that chair to sit down on?
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Is your friend blind or Deaf? If not, then she is not a good source of what a group she is not part of like to be called. Look up blogs written by people with the condition, most of them will say the term they prefer.
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I myself prefer to be called autistic rather than "a person with autism."
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It depends on the disability, difference or condition. A lot of Deaf or Blind people do not consider themselves disabled simply different.
I have hearing loss and consider it a disability myself. I prefer hard of hearing though it doesn't really describe my disability, which is a range loss.
Generally I think it's best to go with what people with it say, not what someone without it says.
I prefer autistic as well myself.
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So I asked Jack if he really did object to being called blind and deaf, (as I couldn't believe a plain speaking Yorkshire man would.) He was amused at what I was telling him because he was doing his usual thing of guessing what she was saying and if in doubt agree, to get them the hell out of his home.
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I told the case worker, "I've had diabetes for 30 years. It's not going to away."
"But it could better," she said.
"No, it will not get better. No matter what, I will still need a special diet for the rest of my life, or until they find a cure."
"But you could get better." Apparently that is what her handbook said, and she was sticking to it.
If I ever run into someone i haven't seen in a long time, they often ask me if I "still" have diabetes.
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Your friend would have been correct in her assumptions that "visually impaired" and "hearing impaired." was the standard at least up until the 90's. I have no idea what the New Speek is now. Not being in social services, we the public don't get the memo's. As many older people hate euphemisms of any type, it would be far better to ask them how they would discribe themselves, write it down and remember to use *that* when speaking to them.
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I went off on one only a few days ago when a FB friend described bad behaviour by certain people as *uneducated* rather than stupid. I have no idea if it is the current news speak for stupid. I was offended by it because I left schooling at the age of 15. There is a difference between being uneducated and unintelligent. Some people will baulk at my use of *stupid* but when I use it I'm talking people who have the intelligence but refuse to use it, *not* people who have a learning disability.
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Personally the over enthusiastic but slightly unaware ones don't really bother me. I think the ones who pull the "do as I say but not as I do" or what I call exceptionalism, ie it's okay for someone they like to say something explicitly and obviously horrid but anyone else is jumped all over if they even think the person could have possibly if you squint said something offensive cause more problems.
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