How should persons with special needs be treated, the kind of language one should use when talking about them, as well as the kind of language that is not acceptable?

Question

After reading the literary pieces closely, try to reflect on what the texts say and come up with your own evaluation or reaction through the questions below. 

2. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

(Excerpt)

By Mark Haddon (England)

Persons with Asperger’s Syndrome or Autism and persons with disabilities, in general, are often discriminated from members of society may it be in the workplace or in school, they are being bullied and misunderstood. According to Buenaobra (2011), for a long time, Filipinos with disabilities have suffered from discrimination. Their economic, social, and political rights have not been recognized and their access to educational opportunities and government services has been limited. there are still significant barriers that keep them from fully participating in society, including the stigma surrounding a disability and society’s poor understanding of the abilities and aspirations of the disabled people. Often, they face a life that is segregated and debased, and many live in isolation and insecurity

How should persons with special needs be treated, the kind of language one should use when talking about them, as well as the kind of language that is not acceptable? Elaborate using practical scenarios.

Answer 1

Following the text excerpt, we can say that the label of "being disabled" transcends more common, baseline personal identifications such as nationality, economic class, political alignment, etc that all members of a society share. Because of this label, people with disabilities are often kept outside of society and their status of "being disabled" becomes a stigma. It therefore seems reasonable to say that people with disabilities have less in common with people without disabilities than people without disabilities have with each other, but still more in common with other people with disabilities. A Filipino quadriplegic, for example, might have more in common with a non-Filipino person with autism than they might with a Filipino who does not identify as disabled.

So, when thinking about how we should talk about people with disabilities, it would probably be helpful to consider that people with disabilities already face some degree of inherent alienation from the rest of society. The hypothetical quadriplegic Filipino and the hypothetical non-Filipino person with autism could both have the experience of being isolated from their respective societies. One way in which this isolation could manifest is through the use of language. Think about how we often talk about disabled people in our own society: Are we direct, or roundabout? Is it something you think people generally would say is "comfortable" for them to talk about, regardless of their status as abled or disabled?