I have never liked the term “special needs” as referring to disabilities. I dislike it most as an adjective, e.g. “a special-needs child,” because it is inelegant (one of the same reasons I hate “stay-at-home mom”), but the main reason for disliking it is more substantive. Every child has special needs. In our home there are two children with autism and two children who are “typically developing,” but each has needs particular to him or her and one is not more “special” than another.
I don’t like the term “special needs,” but I find myself using it anyway because it is the popular term these days and a convenient shorthand when you’re trying to be inclusive of various kinds of disabilities. But you know what? I don’t like the word “disabled” or “disability” any better.
Last week I posted something about Rahm Emanuel getting raked over the coals for using “retarded” as an insult. I understand how “retarded” has come to be a pejorative and therefore it has to be shuttled by polite society. Apparently they are in the process of replacing all instances of the words “retarded” and “retardation” in government documents with “disabled” or “intellectual disability” or something along those lines. I understand why they’re doing it, and yet I also think it’s too bad that a word that started out as a euphemism for a particular kind of handicap–a nice word, meaning “slow”–is now considered no better than a racial slur, just because some mean people misused it (a lot). That’s what mean people do, you know. They see people’s weaknesses and they mock them. They can turn any word into an insult, and eventually we have no choice but to capitulate to their meanness and designate the word unacceptable. And eventually the word is used exclusively as an insult, with no consideration given to its earlier, benign meaning. (See “dumb” and “idiot.”)
The trick is to find a new term that is cumbersome enough that schoolyard bullies aren’t tempted to co-opt it for their nefarious purposes. Mean people are already using “special needs” the same way they use “retarded,” but “developmentally disabled” hasn’t quite caught on as an insult–probably because it is more tongue-twisty than “special needs.” So maybe it will have staying power as a “nice” term for folks who were once called “retarded” (in a nice way), but I still don’t like it.
“Dis-abled” means “not abled,” so it’s no wonder that the especially PC among us prefer the term “differently abled.” I personally think “differently abled” is ridiculous, but “disabled” has a more negative connotation in my mind than, say, “handicapped.” I mean, golfers have handicaps. I don’t see anything wrong with saying my child has a handicap. My child does have a handicap. It doesn’t make him less valuable as a human being, and I’m not sure how the word “handicap” implies such a thing, but at some point somebody decided that “handicapped” was pejorative. (Remember when they used to say “handicapable”? Thus proving that there is a more ridiculous term than “differently abled.”) Alas, I was not the parent of a handicapped child back when they were deciding to jettison “handicapped.” I would certainly have spoken up for it. But it’s too late for that.
It’s not too late, though, for me to chime in on the word “autistic.” I was surprised and dismayed to learn that people actually object to using this word as a descriptor and insist that instead of referring to people as “autistic,” we should refer to them as “people with autism.” Okay, whatever. Is that not what “autistic” means? Of or relating to autism? My understanding is that they want to emphasize the personhood rather than the disability, but…again, whatever. Of course my children are people with autism. They are autistic people. Are you a white person, or are you a “person with whiteness”? Are you a tall person, or are you a “person with tallness”? Are you a mean person, or are you a “person with meanness”? I can’t get behind this new trend. It’s too dumb, if you’ll pardon the expression. (Rahm Emanuel might use more colorful terminology, but I sure won’t.)
Anyway, what are your thoughts, gentle readers? How do you feel about “disabled” and “special needs” rather than “handicapped,” or for that matter, “retarded”? And what about “autistic”? What the bleep is wrong with “autistic”?
55 comments
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February 9, 2010 at 9:44 am
Susan M
I’ve never really thought about the term “special needs,” but yeah, it seems a little silly. I can understand the not wanting to be called autistic, to a certain extent, because I’m a diabetic, but that’s not all I am. I’m also a Mormon, but that’s not all I am. I’m also probably borderline-Aspberger’s, but don’t tell anyone that.
I feel bad because I do use the word “retarded” to refer to things I think are completely lame and stupid. I’ve tried to stop it and have mostly been successful but it still slips out every once in awhile. I would never call a mentally disabled/challenged person that, though.
February 9, 2010 at 10:17 am
madhousewife
No, you wouldn’t, now that it means something bad. This is just the awkward time as the language is changing and the word has two very different meanings/connotations. I used to say “retarded,” too, and I didn’t even think about it until I was well into adulthood, after I had kids. My husband still says it, though, because from his perspective it’s all about intent, and you can’t stop people from turning words into insults. So whatever.
I can understand not wanting to be defined by one aspect of yourself, but sometimes the aspect is relevant, and if it’s relevant, I don’t see the point in eschewing the adjective.
February 9, 2010 at 10:09 am
bythelbs
I suck at political correctness, so I’m definitely not the person to ask. I still occasionally find myself saying “gay” when I mean “lame”, so, um, yeah.
February 9, 2010 at 10:20 am
madhousewife
Well, I say “lame” all the time, even though it’s technically mocking the handicapped, or rather, disabled.
February 9, 2010 at 10:23 am
bythelbs
It seems like just about anything we say can be technically offensive to someone, which is why I don’t bother trying to keep everyone happy. So I unintentionally insult on principle!
February 9, 2010 at 10:10 am
cheryl
My great-aunt Emily (who is now in heaven) was around 91 when we had this conversation:
me: We’re going to have a party! (I was like, 12 years old or somethin’).
Her: Oh, we’ll have such a gay time! Oh. Oh. Oh, dear. ‘Gay’ isn’t a nice word anymore, is it?
Mortification on the face of a 91 year old woman is really depressing.
Anyway, yeah, words change. And it’s sad that it has to do with insults and negative descriptions.
I think autistic is fine. I’m asthmatic. Although that sounds kind of weird, so I just say “I have asthma.”
I find it interesting that people will, at the drop of a hat, insult anything that has to do with brain development. I mean, you never hear someone saying “that is so blind!” or “that is so deaf” or “that is so lame!” Oh, wait. Yeah, the lame part we do.
Interesting, still…
February 9, 2010 at 10:21 am
madhousewife
Ha – as I was just saying.
February 9, 2010 at 10:11 am
cheryl
P.S. Interesting AND sad…
February 9, 2010 at 12:26 pm
foo4luv
I just use whatever word fits the audience I’m addressing at the time. If I have no clue, I go with whatever I prefer personally. I hate having to monitor what’s pc — especially when it differs from person to person. Years ago, I apparently offended someone by using the word “dyslexic” in a derogatory manner. Of course, I didn’t find out until days later, and they couldn’t tell me exactly what I said that was offensive, so…I think people tend to hear what they don’t want to hear as easily as what they do want to hear.
February 10, 2010 at 10:48 am
Evitafjord
I like the term from the title of the textbook for my “Children with Special Needs” class (for which I am supposed to be doing homework right now) – The Exceptional Child. The textbook uses all kinds of terms. It seems they don’t know which one to use either.
February 12, 2010 at 10:51 am
Alison Wonderland
I read a book years ago, long enough that I have no memory of the title (so it could just as easily have been last week but back to the point) it was set mostly in the south and covered maybe 60 years, anyway, the poor heroine grew up calling the African American’s in her association the N word. (I’m too big of a baby to even write it here although my whole point is that it is not in and of itself a derogatory word) She liked and respected those people, that was just what she called them. Then she had a kid with down’s syndrome, whom they referred to as a mongoloid idiot, then she moved to California and was told to call the African Americans with whom she came in contact colored and to call her son mongoloid. And now, as we know, colored is almost as bad as the N word, black took its place but now that too is unacceptable. And today she would have to call her kid trisomy21 because even down’s is derogatory.
And now, since this is already a novel I’ll tell you about the guy on CNN who, about 5 years ago when there were race riots in Paris, referred to those rioting as African Americans. (In his defense, yes, that’s a stupid thing to do but what was he going to call them? African French? No one would have known what he was talking about.)
February 13, 2010 at 10:10 pm
E
Al, that’s my biggest objection to the term African American. We’re supposed to use it as a synonym for black. But black refers to the color of people’s skin which can be seen an easily determined. Nationality; not so much.
I told my friend once that I didn’t really want to label my son with any of the DMS’s official disabilities or syndromes. He’s just weird in his own way. Her response “yeah, weird, that’s not a negative label.” Touche.
Well whatever, I heard a new one this week Temper Disregulation Disorder. As much at it may the most accurate term I’ve ever heard to describe his behavior, I could never in a million years with a straight face say “my son has Temper Disregulation Disorder.” It’s too ridiculous to even take seriously.
July 1, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Sheogorath
We’re supposed to use [African American] as a synonym for black.
During my first visit to the States, somebody told me that, but I said, “Well, I can see she’s black, but I can’t tell just from looking at her whether she’s from Africa or not.” Shut that fool up double quick.
April 3, 2010 at 11:06 pm
rick
what does it mean to call a person a giraffe
November 19, 2011 at 3:08 am
tangerine
I personally think “differently abled” is ridiculous, but “disabled” has a more negative connotation in my mind than, say, “handicapped”.
This. Thisthisthis. I agree: I loathe the word “disability”, however well-intentioned, because it’s so damn *broad* and it feels like people just use it as a blanket term.
Although I guess it’s a pipe dream, I wish people would just stick to things like “so-and-so has epilepsy” rather than feeling the need to label others en masse.
January 9, 2012 at 7:34 am
Gretta Albrecht
Thank you for writing this. I was just feeling the same way this morning. My fiance’s daughter was born with a genetic anomaly that has caused her to have constant seizure activity and global developmental delays. I don’t feel like “special needs” is correct for her. My son has “special needs”. He’s an otherwise ‘normal’ kid, but has sensory issues. He’s outgrown many things but he still needs to be approached in a certain way. All kids have some sort of special need. She has unique needs to help her develop and grow. I generally tell people my fiance’s daughter has health issues, which is true. It’s her health at stake and that is all encompassing everything that’s going on with her…at least that’s how I feel about it. I guess I’m tired of the ‘label’. Just call it what it is…epilepsy with global developmental delays. (the best thing I can come up with)
January 25, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Pvsaakeu
I’d like to tell you about a change of address
February 28, 2012 at 12:46 pm
Renee
I like the term Particular needs vs. Special Needs. Which I am sure would just as you say in time become a problem with the playground bully…but all in all we all have particular needs, some lists are just more detailed than others…for various different reasons….No more explanation needed than that! :o)
August 14, 2012 at 4:27 pm
Louie Martinez
Yeah I think the word Special Abilities is so much better because of how people with Autism are like The mutants on X men or Alphas on Alphas
October 7, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Vicky
Here are my thoughts…A person is never handicapped. The person has a disability and the environment handicaps the person from being able to do what they want to do (curbs on street handicap wheelchair users from getting on sidewalks). The term handicap came from the early years when people with disabilities had no where to live and were put our in the streets and were left to beg and had their caps in their hands to collect money…”handsincaps”. Also, a broken down care is disabled. People with disabilities are not disabled. When in doubt use people first language. All children have needs and people with disabilities should not be referred to as “special”. That comes from the school system as a special education student and people with disabilities are people. They have feelings, thoughts, hobbies, dreams, families, friends and hopes, and people can perpetuates the helplessness and low expectations of these wonderful members of our society with uncaring words. Great discussion.
July 1, 2014 at 5:23 pm
Sheogorath
@ Vicky: Actually, your explanation of the word ‘handicap’ is incorrect. It comes from a game called hand in cap, later shortened to hand’i’cap. snopes.com’s got the skinny on its true origins. The reason most disabled people hate the word is because it was applied to us by authorities, so we called ourselves disabled both to fight back against institutional terms and to acknowledge the fact that we are often disabled in a world set up for people without cognitive disabilities and who do not need to use aids of any description.
February 5, 2013 at 1:57 am
Diane
I agree with Vicky. If we simply look at these “disabilities” as medical diagnoses – which is all they are – we can begin to look at the person as a person. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, do we refer to them as “cancerous”? If you have a child that needs to be tutored in math, do you refer to them as “math impaired” or to have “special needs”? If not, why not? You don’t want people to think of them as different. So why do we do this to our children that have a medical diagnosis? How do we expect others to except our children as their peers and as their friends if we keep referring to them with LABELS. How about we ask the person what they would like to be called and I bet they simply say, “Bill, or Jenny or whatever their name is.
July 1, 2014 at 5:25 pm
Sheogorath
@ Diane: Well, if I am a person with Autism, then I can be a person without Autism. If I wasn’t Autistic, I wouldn’t be me because I would be dead. Did you really mean to wish me dead?
November 25, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Lori A.
Respectfully, Sheogorath, Diane’s comment isn’t about “wishing anyone dead.” Rather, she’s stating that, instead of always putting label after label on certain people, all for various reasons, we might gain more by removing all labels relating to either race, disability and such and simply give respect to each person at all times by calling them by name rather than their diagnosis or their varying skin pigmentations
.
July 13, 2013 at 3:07 am
Milli
I’ve come into this a little bit late buuuuttt.
This topic is a very sensitive one to many people, it’s sensitive to people with and without disabilities.
When using words to describe disabilities people need to approach it in a ‘person centered way’. This means that people need to remember that everyone is a human being (including those who have disabilities, are of different race, sexual orientation or anything else) and that their disability does not define them.
This is why saying things such as “This is Max he is disabled”, “My downs syndrome friend Sally”, “He is autistic” is not approaching this in a person centered way it is segregating them from society even more because of the underlying meaning (that people don’t realise when using these terms) that their disability is them. Another way to do this is to say “Sally has down-syndrome”, “He has autism”. This changes the meaning to be that the person ‘comes first’ and the disability is a quality of theirs. And I agree with Diane in saying that when introducing someone there is no need to reference their disability or introduce them as “This is my friend Sally she has downs-syndrome” because you would never say “This is my friend Jeff he needs extra help in maths cause he struggles”. People with disabilities do need extra support with what ever it is their disability affects and this shouldn’t be a bad thing but when using labels such as ‘special needs’ and retarded it patronises them and puts them down. Special needs classes or special needs schools need to be changed to Schools for Children with Disabilities, or Support classes. Because that is what it is.
October 16, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Sheogorath
Your approach is hardly ‘person-centered’. A true person-centered approach takes the desires of the individual into account. That’s why I will call someone a person with Autism if that’s what they want, but I myself am an Autistic person. My identity is so integral to who I am that no form of identity-first language is offensive to me, whereas person-first language such as ‘person with maleness’ often is.
July 16, 2013 at 12:35 am
Lisa Driessen
I am not at all offended by the term special needs when referring to my deaf daughter who also has turners syndrome. Or my son who is Autistic.
What matters the most is the way in which its used.
At the end of the day we all have so much to deal with when parenting any “special needs child” if we are to judge each other and continually be offended by words used we come across as defensive.
We are special needs parents who have tremendous pressures placed upon us.
At the end of the day we could pick each term apart and find fault in any phrase labeling our children.
But at the end of the day, both my children are special. And they have high needs. I would much rather that than the term retarted.
Chill out lovely x and know through parenting our children we as their parents find special gifts amongst their many needs. And we are therefore rather special in our own right!
Well, I like to think I am.
Big hugs. And hope you your darlings are doing well xo
January 6, 2014 at 9:47 pm
Dawn
How about adopted? People always joke about the black sheep of the family being adopted…should families get upset about that? At what point can we as a society accept that terms are going to be taken lightly, and just be OK with it…no matter the term? I have an adopted daughter from China and when I explain to others that she is adopted, sometimes I feel like I am using a bad word… I really wish people would just live their lives and not worry about how words can be taken wrong or used differently. That is part of the human experience and we should be able to have the backbone to take it with a grain of salt and teach our children to be resilient. Look up
“How Do YOU Define Yourself by Lizzie Velasquez” it is really eye opening. She is the role model I want my children to have when feelings get hurt. Just my two cents, I really hope I didn’t offend anyone 😦
March 8, 2014 at 3:12 pm
Jewel Yousem
Instead of special needs or disabled I just say (depending on the people I am speaking to) kids with more mental (or physical) limitations than most. If I am at a more fancy place I would say someone with mental (0r physical) limits. I haven’t had an instance in which people disapproved of my method or speaking.
May 16, 2014 at 10:59 am
Tatiana
I would prefer if you guys give a suggested word. Just saying is bad, it’s terrible etc. Well….. I need suggestions.
June 2, 2014 at 1:09 pm
madhousewife
Frankly, I have no suggestions. I just don’t mind my autistic children being called autistic.
August 13, 2014 at 5:29 pm
Tevo
A little late here, but I hate the term “special needs”, still not sure why, it just makes me want to vomit. I have no problem saying my child is autistic because that’s the correct term. I’m glad I found this!
September 7, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Christina sharratt
My son’s school used the term special needs when he was with his dad this did not happen it seems political
January 27, 2016 at 6:51 pm
Aziza
does the term special advance a derogatory term I have a guy friend who has aspergers and he thinks it’s offensive but he thinks it’s funny to call me stupid and other names I don’t have a disability anymore I had a reading or math disability he says that his disability doesn’t affect him much but he always wants to be treated like a prince while he treats me like crap and blames me for everything that doesn’t go right in his life it’s hard being is friend I’ve never had a friend with a disability he’s my only friend that has one and almost everyday is like heck when I’m around him I give him space and time to himself and talk to him and give him attention but it’s never enough for him
September 16, 2016 at 1:09 pm
Daniese McMullin-Powell
Being a person with a disability myself, and knowing many others with disabilities, some of us are jackkasses in addition to the disability. being a jackass does not necessarily come from the disability.
August 7, 2016 at 6:26 am
Christina
I love this. I am a PATH instructor and I was repremanded for referring to my friend as Blind. I was told shame on you it’s your friend with blindness. I told my friend and he laughed, ” how stupid he said, I am Blind!” All these labels are stupid. But I also learned that “special needs” the definition actually comes from the gifted and talented program. So I think it’s a possitive. All people have special needs as you say.
August 21, 2016 at 8:59 pm
Ash
I am writing copy for a special education facility and I chanced upon this discussion as I was looking for a right word to describe the children. Although most people here do not prefer the term special needs, I think from the point of view of an educator or a school, the different kind of children can be inclusively and most positively called special needs as I feel it focuses on the tailored care, education and therapy they, as a school, needs to provide rather than the abilities or disabilities of the child per se, while the term differently-abled focuses more on the children.
August 26, 2016 at 5:36 am
Brett
My daughter has autism; like full-blown, not-appropriately-verbal, self-stimulatory behaviors autism. I actually like the term autistic. I have no idea why people are so spun up about terms like that. It’s hilarious, really, and kinda sad, too. For all their efforts, they’re really losing sight of the goal, to interact with and have relationships with special people who have a completely different set of superpowers than most people, no matter what you call them. My daughter can spin in place for hours. She loves the sensation! She can also melt my heart when she cries, or lift my spirit when she laughs (which is often). She exudes innocence like no other 10 year old I know. She is perfect, and I call her autistic. The same goes for people who are handicapped, retarded, special needs, or disabled. Call them whatever accurately describes them, but just love them!
October 26, 2016 at 11:27 am
joeltimothy
Thank you all for this discussion! I have been trying to find appropriate language to write into a parent survey. The hope is to stay person-centered and make sure that this line on the intake form does not make parents apprehensive, but rather hopeful.
The context is in preparation for a children’s program at an event. We want to make the kids program a great experience for all children attending. Part of that is knowing how we can prepare well for children who could benefit from a more skilled leader or even 1:1 accompaniment if necessary.
After reading this thread, this is the language I am choosing:
“Particular Needs. Does your child have any particular needs or abilities that we can be aware of as we seek to make the program a great experience for each individual child (For example, a child with autism, ADD/ADHD)?”
November 9, 2016 at 10:29 pm
Lynn
Great post! I am a special education instructor and always take a moment before a discussion about my “special needs” student. It never felt quite right. When discussing a student, we are careful not to divulge on confidentiality issues so would never say my “Autistic” student. I really do like what Joeltimothy suggests…a student with “particular needs” makes much more sense for my profession.
January 5, 2017 at 10:10 am
Matt
I have bipolar disorder and ADHD and it was mostly behavioral as I was in all of the AP classes and it made me feel like I was useless and defective to hear that applied to me in IEP meetings. I never was in special education at all and most of my behavior was perceived as “bratty”. I also think on the parent’s and society’s end, in cases with mental disorders that this enables a lot of the time too. Initially, I was referred to as a “difficult to control” child until I was fed drugs.
My issue was that my fellow students were too slow and I was bored. It’s this antsy feeling and it’s horrible. When I asked for accommodations in college that was one of my big ones. I remember the bullies walking by when we were in the Ritalin line one day while they went to lunch who made a comment about the “retards getting their pills” and I yelled that everyone else is the “retard” in my case because I take them because I go to fast for you.
March 29, 2017 at 5:02 am
Lori
Well being in the med field since 70s the word RETARD was handwritten in ALL charts, folders, etc. Everyone has special needs in one form or another.i still use the word RETARDED. And O I always will.
October 1, 2017 at 3:36 am
Chas Burns
Found this. Have the same problem. I run a small independent school for people of all ages and abilities. I have a certain weekly workshop that works with adult people of “different abilities” and yes we all have different abilities, so how do I find a term that says what I need to say..? people with learning difficulties? many of who can’t interact like most.. speech issues, physical issues, but all these different abilities don’t mean they are lesser abled.. it means they are abled differently..
“Different People”?
I’ll come back if I think of something..
October 1, 2017 at 3:50 am
Chas Burns
Specific Needs
Alternative Needs
Alternative Requirements
April 4, 2018 at 9:52 am
Wayne
What ever word you assign to someone’s abilities or inabilities will be mocked regardless , but nevertheless you seem to have an emotional attachment to certain words either offending you or irritating you. It’s quite a well worded piece of opinionated text which I found to be ” in my opinion” someone who takes things to heart. I’m not sure if you have a close member who is also disabled but if I was you I would start by not caring about what others think or even entertaining the names which they decide to call these specially abled citizens as you put it, but then again someone has to think about these thing to safeguard these vulnerable children who are subjected to horrific bullying, which is very unacceptable.
November 15, 2019 at 9:48 pm
Coach Krish
October 2019, I became a para-archery coach. During the course, it wasn’t so much how we labelled them but how we talked to the person. We actually got to talk openly and honestly to some people, whose ‘life situation’ meant that they spent much time in wheelchairs. Simply put, those people told us simply to talk to them as you would anyone else.
This left me wondering about the value of trying so hard to be politically correct when trying to assign a description to a person. One of my tutors told me, to simply ask the person how they prefer to be described.
November 1, 2020 at 12:37 pm
no name
I don’t like any of those words just as I hate how you use the word “whatever”.
September 6, 2021 at 10:27 pm
Billy
I just say “retarded” and refuse to be shamed into using the P.C. nonsense term “special needs”. Here’s why: retarded literally means “slow” for example the military has a term for a bomb that has special fins on it that slow down its descent… calling it a retarded bomb. Hence at least the military realizes that the word retarded means slow. And that’s how retarded people think. Slow. Their minds work slow because they are far less intelligent than normal people. “Retarded” is a vastly more specific term than “special needs”.
Here’s how: “Special needs” can refer to VASTLY more conditions than being mentally retarded. I myself have special needs because I have to take three different psychological medications in order to be able to function in daily life because I am mentally ill. Doesn’t mean I’m stupid, in fact I’m quite the opposite of retarded, but I could be called by the ridiculously vague term “special needs” because I have special needs (e.g. medications) that a normal person doesn’t. A person who got his legs blown off in Afghanistan and is consigned to a wheelchair for the rest of his earthly life has “special needs” because unlike your average person he has to use a wheelchair to get around, otherwise he would have to drag himself from place to place with his arms. A diabetic person has “special needs” because he or she has to take insulin unlike the average person or else he or she will go into insulin shock and die. These are just three great examples of “special needs” people who are definitely not mentally retarded.
So let’s all quit being so overly sensitive and quit sugarcoating things and call retarded people what they are: retarded. And to Hell with anyone who tries to shame us into using ridiculous, nondescript, sugarcoated P.C. crap terms that don’t really tell you anything about a person’s problem. OK? OK.
September 16, 2021 at 1:13 am
Lynn Hartnett
Unfortunately, the word ‘retarded’ has taken a bad turn over the years. Society views it as a form of stupidity; as seen in movies etc. In schools, the term has become a form of being bullied and a put down.
Some of my students are not slow minded but have communication difficulties that make me slow minded if I don’t find a way to communicate equal to their high IQ.
September 7, 2021 at 12:05 pm
Lynn Hartnett
‘Specific Needs’ can reference many levels of learning that need modifications. Rather it be exceptional, medical or severe, just a term that states there is a need for assistance.
Lynn
September 15, 2021 at 11:17 pm
Coach Rama
Mental Issue / Physical Issue are terms I use. Sure they are generic but when coaching children, I have to be careful not to label them incorrectly, especially when dealing with the parents.
September 16, 2021 at 1:16 am
Lynn Hartnett
Yes, you are in a unique position where modifications are a necessity to give equal opportunities for all athletes! Issues have to be specified.
May 16, 2022 at 8:14 am
sarina
Any and all comments that create otherness will eventually impact negatively. Can’t we just stop trying to create separate distinctions ? All issues are created by this. Old, young, male, female, non binary it just goes on and on. I like human being best …how about you?
July 24, 2022 at 5:23 am
Discord
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Hey check this discord
November 17, 2023 at 2:03 am
Anon
You’re not the only one hates that term. I despise it just as much as I loathe the words “disabled” and “disability”.