{"id":11498,"date":"2021-04-06T17:43:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T17:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialpanic.org\/?p=11498"},"modified":"2021-04-06T17:45:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T17:45:02","slug":"the-culture-of-perpetual-outrage-the-harmful-ableist-language-you-unknowingly-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2021\/04\/06\/the-culture-of-perpetual-outrage-the-harmful-ableist-language-you-unknowingly-use\/","title":{"rendered":"The culture of perpetual outrage: “The harmful ableist language you unknowingly use”"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is what happens when constantly seek out reasons to be perpetually outraged:<\/p>\n

So, it always stings when I\u2019m reminded that for many, the word \u2018deaf\u2019 has little to do with what I love most \u2013 in fact, its connotations are almost exclusively negative. For example, in headlines across the world \u2013 Nevada\u2019s proposed gun safety laws<\/a>, pleas from Ontario\u2019s elderly<\/a> and weather safety warnings in Queensland<\/a> \u2013 have all \u201cfallen on deaf ears\u201d.<\/p>\n

This kind of \u2018ableist\u2019 language is omnipresent in conversation: making a \u201cdumb\u201d choice, turning a \u201cblind eye\u201d to a problem, acting \u201ccrazy\u201d, calling a boss \u201cpsychopathic\u201d, having a \u201cbipolar\u201d day. And, for the most part, people who utter these phrases aren\u2019t intending to hurt anyone \u2013 more commonly, they don\u2019t have any idea they\u2019re engaging in anything hurtful at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, for disabled people like me, these common words can be micro-assaults. For instance, \u201cfalling on deaf ears\u201d provides evidence that most people associate deafness with wilful ignorance (even if they consciously may not). But much more than individual slights, expressions like these can do real, lasting harm to the people whom these words and phrases undermine \u2013 and even the people who use them in daily conversation, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Source: The harmful ableist language you unknowingly use – BBC Worklife<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

These things are only hurtful to those who want to be hurt so they can have a reason to be outraged.<\/p>\n

I have a secret\u00a0 – I have used the phrase “whose brain is not working” or “brain dead thinking”. Should you be offended if you’ve had a brain injury or brain problems?<\/p>\n

Of course you should be offended – you probably needed something to be offended about anyway.<\/p>\n

Did you know that I am a brain injured individual. Considering what I write on my blogs, isn’t that obvious?<\/p>\n

I have had 5 knock out blows each of which generally involved broken bones and broken bike helmets, one 5″ (13 cm) long skull fracture with moderate traumatic brain injury, and one non-knock out blow that left me with brain effects for weeks. Every day I have to deal with some aspect of past brain injuries.<\/p>\n

But I do not go around acting as a thought police, seeking to figure out how every utterance might some how be offensive to me and those with brain injuries.<\/p>\n

But heck, let’s face it – I’m a brain injured idiot so what I think is probably wrong anyway, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is what happens when we constantly seek out reasons to be perpetually outraged. The world is overrun with individuals who every day, intentionally seek out things to be outraged about. Common speech is now perceived as intentional and hurtful sleight to someone, somewhere. There is nothing we can say anymore without offending someone, somewhere. I have referred to concepts as “brain dead”, which is likely offensive to those with brain injuries. Which, should be obvious by now, includes me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,24,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-of-perpetual-outrage","category-in-practice","category-mental-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}