NOVEMBER 2 — A common misconception I see is people thinking they are being considerate by using “differently abled” or “special” instead of the word disabled.
Disabled is not a dirty word or a slur. It is simply a matter-of-fact statement that a person is not “abled.”
An abled person is simply someone without any kind of disability and a disabled person is just an ordinary person with one or more disabilities.
Why is it important to make this distinction?
It is because of the tendency to “other” the disabled, treating them as though they are a race or people apart, when they are just, well, people.
If I lose my leg tomorrow, will it make me any less of a person?
No, it will just make me a person without a leg and that will require accommodation and a change in how I navigate the world.
The problem with the world right now is that lack of inclusivity, creating cities and amenities that do not consider that perhaps not everyone is abled.
We are all but a step away from disability — all it takes is an illness, an accident or that thing that comes for all of us in the end, which is old age.
I think about my friend Peter Tan, a disabled activist who was both one of the kindest and funniest people I knew, while also being the angriest.
There was a time where for some reason a speed bump was built right outside his house gate and he raised hell until it got removed.
A speed bump is already a terrible thing to place right outside someone’s house but when you are a wheelchair user it becomes just one more obstacle to deal with when trying to just go about your day.
One of my childhood fears was going blind. I would have nightmares about struggling to open my eyes and then realising they were already open; I just couldn’t see.
As I got older I learned to be more comfortable about moving around in the dark, learning to step carefully and feeling around instead of just walking the same way I would with lights on.
What I also think about a lot more these days is how most people put little care into thinking about including the disabled.
The disabled cannot be seen as apart from society — they are very much part of it and I think it is just magical thinking, or plain self-delusion to not accept that many of us will become part of that demographic.
Sure, some older people or even disabled manage to maintain high levels of mobility even as they age.
Yet for many people it is hard without the right knowledge, nutrition or that simple thing called money.
It is easy enough for the rich to have personal trainers and in-house gyms and personalised meals but for many of us, getting old means an unfortunate descent into decrepity.
I think about Star Trek that imagined a universe that accommodated disabilities instead of trying to fix them. Instead of magic cures that removed blindness, ships were made with control panels that even the blind could navigate.
Star Trek also created a world where eugenics was outlawed and attempts at making “perfect” human beings were illegal.
Instead, Star Trek showed a world where being disabled didn’t mean your career was over nor would it be a career impediment.
Fast forward to the current reality where Americans mock a senatorial candidate for his slowed speech after recovering from a stroke, and Malaysian political parties use the disabled only as talking points.
There is no waiting for a right time to include the disabled. Let them be seen, and most of all, let them speak for themselves.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
