{"title":"The word soup handicap: Why finding the right way to address people like me is tough.","authors":"G R Raamesh","doi":"10.20529/IJME.2023.033","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>I have been blind in the left eye after a childhood accident, and fall into the category of 'Divyāngjan' (people with divine body parts), but that is not a term I like being described by. I prefer to be known by a handicap that restricts my activity, without any attempt to patronise with pity rather than empathy. This also goes for the several politically correct terms being used to describe people with disabilities these days. Most of these reflect a patronising attitude and serve no purpose. If people sincerely mean well, they need to engage practically with the obstacles faced by those dealing with disabilities. Merely changing descriptive terms, and without consulting those most affected, is like putting a band aid on the disability.</p>","PeriodicalId":35523,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Indian journal of medical ethics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.20529/IJME.2023.033","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/5/17 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
I have been blind in the left eye after a childhood accident, and fall into the category of 'Divyāngjan' (people with divine body parts), but that is not a term I like being described by. I prefer to be known by a handicap that restricts my activity, without any attempt to patronise with pity rather than empathy. This also goes for the several politically correct terms being used to describe people with disabilities these days. Most of these reflect a patronising attitude and serve no purpose. If people sincerely mean well, they need to engage practically with the obstacles faced by those dealing with disabilities. Merely changing descriptive terms, and without consulting those most affected, is like putting a band aid on the disability.
期刊介绍:
The Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (formerly Issues in Medical Ethics) is a platform for discussion on health care ethics with special reference to the problems of developing countries like India. It hopes to involve all cadres of, and beneficiaries from, this system, and strengthen the hands of those with ethical values and concern for the under-privileged. The journal is owned and published by the Forum for Medical Ethics Society, a not-for-profit, voluntary organisation. The FMES was born out of an effort by a group of concerned doctors to focus attention on the need for ethical norms and practices in health care.