Mistakes Were Made, but not by ME

Mistakes Were Made, but not by ME

No, I don’t really believe that. It’s the title to a book. One I’m going to have to get my hands on.

One thing I can say…if you are ever trying to have a discussion about ableism (disableism) and the people you are talking to are not understanding–do not, I repeat DO NOT–try to explain it using the more familiar terms of a race discussion.

This will not win you points/friends/arguments. It may well result in a websplosion.

You’ve been warned.

In other news, it’s day…oh, three or so…of my trying to be more aware of my use of ableist language. I’m amazed at how often “crazy” wants to come out of my mouth or off my fingers. Avoiding it hasn’t been all that hard, though. We’ll see how it goes when I’m a little less aware of it. Due to aforementioned websplosion, the subject hasn’t been far from my mind this week.

3 thoughts on “Mistakes Were Made, but not by ME”

  1. *hugs* When Alan first tweeted about not using “crazy,” I started trying to watch myself. I blew it within 2 days. But back on the horse. Any improvement is still improvement, right?

    Also, I think (from looking back at my blog, recent tweets, etc.) that I don’t actually use it as much as it’s been wanting to fall out of my mouth/trip off my fingers since I started paying attention. Remembering to eliminate it makes seems to bring it to the forefront of my mind when forming sentences.

    PPE: Thought I posted this hours ago, but it doesn’t seem to have gone through. Sorry.

    1. Yes, the same here so far. The more I try not to use it inappropriately, the more it tries to get out. Also, I’m terribly fond of the word “mad” in all its forms. I’ll just have to save it for special (and appropriate) occasions, I guess.

  2. (So Disqus ate the comment, but I had it in my email. Editing it in before my response)

    Dusty wrote:

    I really like that link. The only problem with the story is that if you do the equivalent of what that guy did, you’d get labelled as a troublemaker by the people you’re standing up to.

    Worth it if you’re trying to make something more accessible for you and other disabled people, not so much if you’re trying to educate people.

    That said, I admire what he did and wish I had balls of steel like that! XD

    Yes, indeed. Love his mom, though.

    I’m glad I searched a little farther than Wikipedia for an explanation.

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