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- Jul 9, 2008
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Maybe, maybe not, but it might help the rest of us reduce the sense of otherness. As they say, would you call a child with cancer a "cancer child"?
As long as you reveal it, it should be okay - sometimes.
Not if we were talking about Ben who has cancer. Nevertheless, if we are talking in the academy, as is the case with even teaching professionals how to educate correctly-will in fact use such language when describing the abstract notion of a certain child/person who is diagnosed as such. For instance, "The LD child typically has problems doing ______". Rick Lavoie, a person usually hailed in the community for his insights, could be in fact attacked for saying LD child-not because the "LD child" may or may not actually have the characteristics that Rick is describing (since we are a diverse group), but because of it being the disability being considered instead of the child in the language distinction. Sometimes the politically correct tendencies confuse the purpose of its supposed progressivism.
Furthermore, I am not one to bash people for their disabilities, but I certainly appreciate, or even embrace such humor that many find offensive. Ironically, because of the intense atmosphere, I feel far more human in being able to laugh at the community, laugh at my own disability, and the tendency to be hyper-sensitive. The politically correct atmosphere can deliver us from absolutely awful situations, but likewise, it can also reinforce the awful situations and make minorities feel quite a bit more different from everyone else than perhaps is intended.
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