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Avoiding “Disability” in Language
#SaytheWord Activism
Technology and social media have become significant tools for the disability rights movement, with the #SaytheWord campaign, created by disabled people to claim the term and encourage nondisabled people to stop avoiding/replacing disability as an identity, going viral and gaining attention of major news outlets. Sentiments such as “I don’t think of you as disabled” and other efforts to avoid using the word “disability” reveal prejudices and biases as they express surprise at disabled people’s accomplishments, deny disability identity, and imply disability is negative and the individual defies undesirable stereotypes. When disabled people are inconsistent with outsiders’ stereotypes, they’re considered distinct subtypes of exceptions, resulting in the sensationalization of disabled people perceived as successful and the treatment of ordinary activities such as employment with astonishment and admiration.
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Disability Studies
Social Science
Empirical Science
Science
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#SaytheWord Activism
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Self-Identification