response 1 of 11:

Jan 9 05:27 UTC 1995

Since I started this, I refer to myself as an AK amputee or "amp"
to my amp friends. More generally, I refer to myself as disabled.
I hate the more recent terms (e.g. physically challenged), I think
they are mostly lip service offered in lieu of real increases in
access, etc.

response 3 of 11:

Jan 13 16:30 UTC 1995

I agree with Jill.  I have an in-law who makes remarks about "cripples"
(particularly when it comes to parking spaces).  It still hurst me,
even though I can jokingly refer to myself that way.

response 5 of 11:

Jan 23 18:39 UTC 1995

The term "hearing impaired " is commonly used in the federal gov't to 
describe those who are profoundly deaf and those who can heaer with 
"assistance devises".  I am not trying to argue, as a hearing person
I have no right, but to explain why I tend to use the term.

Does it make sense?  My deaf friends (employees who no longer work
directly for me) call profoundly deaf people "deaf" and do not 
tend to move in the same social circles as people who hear with 
a hearing aid.

Perhaps the inlaws who say "cripples" are from the same generation as my FIL,
who says coloreds still, instead of blacks/African-Americans.  They
don't mean as much offense and condescension as their words imply,
but the choice of words grates.  

My kids go to a public school with lots of integration.  Deaf and
other handicapped children are in the classrooms for part to full days,
(this is elementary level)there is a "total communication" (deaf)
school-within-a school to meet the needs of the deaf children (this is a
regioinal center) and the TC school has it'sown full lprincipal.  The kids are
used to amplifiers, hearing aids, interpreters, TDDs, walkers, crutches, etc. 
To each the hand he is dealt is the overwhelming attitude--you  help your
neighbor, not pity/judge.  ASL is taught with Spanish and French and German as
electives.  It's also used in the classrooms.

My reason for explaining this is to relate a shock my oldest encountered
when she entered the schools 'gifted' program, which takes kids from a 
number of other elem schools.... one of the kids from another school starated
making fun of a  (sorry about the typing) startedmaking fun of a deaf child,
behind the child's back.  Although the deaf kid never knew what was going on,
the children who had attended the school since kindergarten all turned on the
malicious one, and according to my daughet, let him know that was not 
acceptable behavior at his new school.  I believe he was considered a  jerk and
a showoff who had trouble gaining acceptance with his new peers.

response 7 of 11:

Jan 25 00:14 UTC 1995

It is true that "disability" means different things in different
contexts.  My former employer, Ford Motor Company, considered me
"disabled" (or unable to work) I believe mainly because they did not
want the possible liabilities of dealing with special needs.  When
they "suggested" that I retire at 35 years of age I felt that I was
still very capable of performing in my job.  Strangely enough, the
Social Security people did not consider me disabled either (although
I understand they have since accepted most multiple sclerosis claims
without question).  I lead a full, active life and although I am
sometimes bedridden or in a chair, most of the time I get around
quite well.  Sometimes corporations are too swift to give the boot
to someone with a disability, especially at a time when that person
most needs to feel they are still capable and worth their pay.

response 9 of 11:

Mar 22 16:56 UTC 1995

An old business acquaintance of mine has MS, and went through
a stage where his speech was slurred and he had to drag himself
around on crutches and leg braces.  Deplaning once after a trip,
he stopped when he reached the pilot and copilot, grabbed the
pilot's hat and put it on his own head, then turned to face the
other deplaning passengers and started saying, "Thanks for flying
Northwest.  Join us again.  Thanks for flying Northwest..."

response 11 of 11:

Jul 31 21:01 UTC 2000

Ok, well to attempt to resurrect a discussion five years gone, I
personally resist calling myself a disabled person.  I choose to call
myself a person with a disability because the inversion subtly stresses
my humanity rather than the fact of my blindness.  I do not object to
the word disabled because it is accurate, I am unable to see at this
time of my life.  I will call myself blind, since it is descriptive and
to the point, but again, I will attemppt to make sure that this is not
the central focus of self-identification.

Language is a tricky thing in this arena as in others.  The trick here
is to find the balance between conveying the facts of a person's
physical capabilities or lack thereof with not drawing the exclusive
attention of a listener to something which is not the sole defining
aspect of life with a disability.  I find this to be a somewhat
controversial position among PWDs (the latest PC generic term, people
with disabilities) as some firmly believe that living successfully with
the bodies and minds they are given or acquire through life, means
accepting the limitations imposed as *the* central fact of their
existence.  I must respectfully disagree.  As someone who cannot read or
write unassisted, who cannot drive, who cannot acquire information
through any of the growing variety of visual means, I feel that these
things constitute factors in my life.  But it is the people in my life
who form the core of my world, my loving fiancee, my friends, my daito
ryu training partners, my massage clients.  These peoplle mean more to
me than the things I have to do differently because I can't see.  So I
practice massage therapy, I laugh and cry with my people, you can talk
to me in time of stress, so long as I can tell you from time to time,
please wait, I'm overloaded myself, I dance naked in the woods given
half a chance, I worship in the natural world, I cook nyummy food and
enjoy cooking with a loved one as an act of bonding as much as for the
good food that will result.  And I am blind, I have a disability.