Andrew Daley's Accessible Interweb

josiahd:

goldenheartedrose:

psi-nerd:

goldenheartedrose:

psi-nerd:

goldenheartedrose:

irrayditation:

josiahd:

Nice to see this in the wild on a blog that doesn’t normally have anything to do with disability.

Isn’t the fact that he used the word ‘stupid’ in the same sentence where he was explaining why the r-word isn’t ok, counterproductive? Or, are the two words on such different levels that its not that important?

Well, I think that the majority of the world is far less aware of lesser known ableist terms. Not that he gets a pass by any means. I don’t think a person could argue that most people are aware that the r word and its variations are ableist. But only a small percentage are aware that “stupid” is.

Can someone explain to me why “stupid” is considered ableist? I’ve honestly ever only heard of it being ableist on tumblr. To me it means something that was not well thought through. Every synonym for this that I can think of has also been called out on tumblr as ableist.

Not trying to be difficult, just trying to understand. n_n

I am on my phone, and I can’t find the specific one here, though I think it could fall under “intelligence”, “idiot” or “moron”:

http://disabledfeminists.com/category/ableist-word-profile/

Thanks! It fell under “moron.” I certainly understand how moron is considered ableist, given that it relates back to an abandoned diagnostic term. But I’m still having a bit of trouble in understanding why “stupid” is- and from what I’ve seen around Tumblr, there are a lot of varying opinions on this. I understand that determining another’s worth based on what we see as “intelligence” (or lack thereof) is hella problematic, but… I don’t know. To me “stupid” doesn’t translate to “low IQ-” just something done thoughtlessly or carelessly. I certainly don’t want to trigger anyone, and I have been very careful not to say anything along the lines of “you’re stupid” on tumblr (and my apologies if I have ever slipped up) because I know it is considered to be a safe space for many people, but it slips out quite frequently in real life because I can’t think of another term to describe this concept? Any better terms to use?

Sorry for the rant, and I’m sure that could have been way more articulate. :/

I tend to use ignorant or ignoramus. I don’t have much of an issue with removing it from my vocabulary because my teachers in school (one who had a son with DS) treated it like it was a curse word. But I understand how hard it is to change the way you speak, the language you use.

Actually I have a huge problem with conflating ignorance and stupidity.

I use stupid to refer to bad values that make someone bad at thinking or otherwise bad at understanding the world. I don’t know another word for that, and I think it’s important to have a word for that. And stupidity in this sense has absolutely nothing to do with IQ.

Ignorance isn’t equivalent. Ignorance just means not knowing something — and everyone is ignorant of something, everyone is ignorant in ways that hurt people, even. But often, that’s not a moral failing; it’s just not knowing.

And all too often, when a group regards certain knowledge as obvious common sense, members of that group regard everyone who doesn’t share that knowledge as stupid, as though the only reason one could fail to know that particular thing is that they have terrible values that cause them to be terrible at thinking.

But most ignorance isn’t like that. And I think it’s really, really important not to conflate the two, because it leads to treating people really badly.

disabledtalk:

Ms. Lacy, a blind student at Austin Community College, is a computer-science major who loves her classes but often struggles in them, not because she doesn’t understand the material, but because she doesn’t have access to adequate textbooks. And when she started taking the…

Awesome!