Shirts That Go Hard

In the latest Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM-5-TR), intellectual disability is the term that replaces mental retardation meaning mentally slow or delayed. Before mental retardation, it was mental deficiency implying there was something inferior. To me, there's no real difference between mental deficiency and intellectual disability. They are synonymous. Before the first DSM, a prominent doctor in the field of intelligence created a tiered system of intelligence that applied the labels moron, imbecile, and idiot (ordered higher to lower intelligence). Those words became derogatory too. The issue is not that scientists can't guess the correct term that wont become an insult.

The issue is that society defines values for people which allows terms to be insults. As long as oppression exists, the vulnerable will fall victim to it. The disabled, by definition, will always be part of the vulnerable group. Additionally, oppression is always justified by arguments on who deserves what, whether it be religion, race, sex, social class, work ethic, or intelligence. As long as we hold the value that inequitable distribution is not only acceptable but the ultimate goal of a just society, then regardless of the rules we establish, however noble or virtuous, the disabled will always be part of the oppressed, and thus, the terms for lower intelligence will continually evolve from neutral to derogatory.

Yeah that haunting poetry kicks ass.

The deaf seem to own it. They made up their own language and ableism can't do shit.

But that is the only exception I can think of. (And they are really independent).

The Euphemism Treadmill might stop when the term is so clinically dry as "mentally disabled". It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue of a schoolyard bully the way "retarded" does. I dunno, we'll see.

Reminds me of the slow children signs around neighborhoods. Every time my brain thinks... Are the kids to slow to get out of the way, or are they to mentally slow to know to not play in traffic. Then I remember I'm to mentally slow to realize it's me who is supposed to slow for the children but there is no punctuation so I just chuckle.

Actually I wonder if my neighbors would like it if I put this sign out front

Insisting that people speak a certain way is like insisting that women wear dresses. It's so fundamentalist

No cap, fr fr!

Spoken like a true neurodivergent.

All things are possible with the help of a local maker space

Here's my random two cents about disability euphemisms.

I personally think "special", which was pretty popular like 10 years ago, was/is pretty demeaning. Even the more recent "differently-abled" feels weird.

I think the plain language of "disability", which seems to have been around quite a while now, is fine. It's what is says on the tin, without judgement.

Why does everyone assume it's "eternal" or "never ending"? Each time the euphemisms change, it's due to more inclusivity, more empathy, and more attempts to understand the plight of others. It's reasonable to assume that it'll stop at a point when we reach the right terms. It probably has already, and I just can't think of any examples off the top of my head...