Over the last 20 years I've been blind, I've been visually handicapped, I've been visually impaired, I'm now sight impaired and you know what it hasn't made a ha'p'orth of difference to my life and the way people regard me.
That quote, by Ian Macrae, is taken from the transcript of a Radio 4 interview dating from 2004. I'm not sure whether it says more about language change or about life with a disability, or whether in this instance it's even wise to try to separate the two.
Anyway, the whole transcript is worth reading, not least for the discussion it contains on the word 'disabilism'.
Thanks to my colleague Emily for pointing this one out to me.
1 comment:
I would imagine Macrae is right, because you can't imagine yourself a black or Indian person, or a woman (if you're a man) or a man (if you're a woman), but you can imagine - and fear - going blind or becoming crippled. So the reactions are different.
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